Victor Cha, David Kang, Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies (Contemporary Asia in the World): Victor Cha, David Kang, Stephan Haggard: 9780231189231: Amazon.com: Books

Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies (Contemporary Asia in the World): Victor Cha, David Kang, Stephan Haggard: 9780231189231: Amazon.com: Books





Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies (Contemporary Asia in the World) Paperback – September 11, 2018
by Victor Cha (Author), David Kang (Author), & 1 more
5.0 out of 5 stars 5 ratings

Victor D. Cha and David C. Kang’s Nuclear North Korea was first published in 2003 amid the outbreak of a lasting crisis over the North Korean nuclear program. It promptly became a landmark of an ongoing debate in academic and policy circles about whether to engage or contain North Korea. Fifteen years later, as North Korea tests intercontinental ballistic missiles and the U.S. president angrily refers to Kim Jong-un as “Rocket Man,” Nuclear North Korea remains an essential guide to the difficult choices we face.
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Coming from different perspectives―Kang believes the threat posed by Pyongyang has been inflated and endorses a more open approach, while Cha is more skeptical and advocates harsher measures, though both believe that some form of engagement is necessary―the authors together present authoritative analysis of one of the world’s thorniest challenges. 

They refute a number of misconceptions and challenge the faulty thinking that surrounds the discussion of North Korea, particularly the idea that North Korea is an irrational actor. Cha and Kang look at the implications of a nuclear North Korea, assess recent and current approaches to sanctions and engagement, and provide a functional framework for constructive policy. With a new chapter on the way forward for the international community in light of continued nuclear tensions, this book is of lasting relevance to understanding the state of affairs on the Korean peninsula.


Editorial Reviews

[Cha and Kang’s] contribution is important for its frank discussion of the possibility of a nuclear attack and their presentation of potential courses of action. -- Concepción De León, The New York Times

[A] crisp, smart book. -- Michael O’Hanlon, Chronicle of Higher Education

A penetrating analysis of what is probably the world’s most dangerous trouble spot. -- Gordon G. Chang, Asian Review of Books

A delight to read. -- Rüdiger Frank, Pacific Affairs
About the Author


Victor D. Cha is D. S. Song–Korea Foundation Endowed Chair in the Department of Government and School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He is senior adviser and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and was director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council from 2004 to 2007. His books include The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future (2012).

David C. Kang is Maria Crutcher Professor of International Relations, Business, and East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California, where he is also director of the Korean Studies Institute and the Center for International Studies. His most recent book is American Grand Strategy and East Asian Security in the Twenty-First Century (2017).

Stephan Haggard is the Lawrence and Sallye Krause Professor of Korea-Pacific Studies, director of the Korea-Pacific Program, and distinguished professor of political science at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California, San Diego. His books include Hard Target: Sanctions, Inducements, and the Case of North Korea (2017).


Product details

Series: Contemporary Asia in the World

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Columbia University Press; revised and updated edition edition (September 11, 2018)
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Top Reviews

Xuecheng Liu
5.0 out of 5 stars The best book for studying North Korea's Nuclear ProgramReviewed in the United States on February 16, 2013
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Victoe Cha is one of the authorities in studying Korean Peninsula. This book addresses the challenges of North korea's nuclear weapon programs and its threat to US allies in the region. The author analyzes the strategies for dealing with North Korea's nuclear weapon programs with both progress and failure.

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Italy traveller
5.0 out of 5 stars but this is a really goodReviewed in the United States on January 27, 2018
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Needs to have a revision, but this is a really good book


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SC
5.0 out of 5 stars Great readReviewed in the United States on November 12, 2007
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Well written and easy to follow. I especially love the way the book is set up. Two authors who lean towards slightly different directions (hawk/dove) in regards to how America should engage with North Korea, present their argument while also responding to the other's arguments in alternating chapters.


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John Matlock
5.0 out of 5 stars "A Million and a Trillion"Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2005
Format: Paperback
After the first Gulf War, several second/third world countries made the observation that the technical and other advantages possesed by the U. S. make it imperative that any country concerned about an attack from the United States have nuclear weapons. I note that I don't see President Bush talking much about attacking North Korea. General Gary Luck offered a quick sound bite on the costs of a war in N. Korea: "one million casualties, one trillion dollars in industrial damage and lost business."

In this excellent book the authors attempt to bring some sense to the scare headlines so loved by the news media -- Newsweek called the North Korean leader, "Dr. Evil." The book is written by two professors, one a bit more hawkish, one a bit more dovish. They present their views, they discuss the others viewpoint, they then try to come up with an overall plan that makes sense.

A million casualties -- somebody better come up with a plan that's better than TV's talking heads.

With this book I also highly recommend "North Korea at a Crossroads" by Suk Hi Kim.

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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars An accessible yet academic look at the Korean crisisReviewed in the United States on June 30, 2004
Format: Hardcover
Professors Cha and Kang come at the current and historic crisis in North Korea from different angles: Cha from a more "realist" view of international relations, Kang from a more "liberal" view. The book is a series of several chapters written alternately by Cha and Kang with each pair of chapters focusing on one aspect of the Korean problem. Both view North Korea as being entirely "rational," and make a point to discredit 30-second sound byte types of analyses of North Korea's decisionmaking process. Cha finds that it is perfectly rational for North Korea to attack or go nuclear even if the end result has a high probability of resulting in total destruction, because the status quo is so unbearable that the North is willing to bear the risk. Kang suggests that increased economic development, integration into the world economy, and the introduction of market forces will alter North Korea's cost-benefit analysis and push it away from violent military action or the active pursuit of a nuclear weapons program. In the end, both agree that the default strategy for the United States is engagement.
Cha and Kang do a good job of bringing intellectual depth to a debate that is often over-simplified. It makes a good read for the average reader while remaining a strong academic work of its own. This is not a history book--it is a book examining academic questions with real-world implications.

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