The U.S. should take care not to overreact to N. Korea’s nuclear test

Washington State University political scientist Thomas Preston says North Korea’s efforts to develop a nuclear weapons capability are intended to deter against outside aggression and North Korea is unlikely to ever export nuclear weapons technology. “I think it is irresponsible hyperbole to suggest they will sell them to others,” Preston says. “They have had chemical weapons and biological weapons for decades and never sold those. They are too few in number and too valuable for that.”

Preston believes the Bush administration has been unwilling to really engage in substantive, serious negotiations with the North Koreans for the past four years.

“The current deteriorating situation is primarily a result of that failed policy. Pyongyang is quite likely engaging in diplomatic brinksmanship to try to put pressure on the White House to back off of some of its hard-line positions,” Preston says. “Unless we are planning to invade the North, we really don’t need to create an ‘artificial urgency’ to this situation. It really only becomes a true crisis if we overreact and lose patience in continuing a diplomatic process. If we just maintain status quo for a time, and come back with another offer, Pyongyang can just as quickly decide to resume participation in the 6-Party Talks.”

A specialist in security policy, foreign affairs, and political psychology, Preston has frequently served as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense (on Korea), the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Defense Intelligence Agency. He joined WSU in 1994 where he teaches undergraduate courses on international relations, U.S. foreign policy, U.S. national security policy, and Russian politics, as well as graduate seminars on international security and political leadership.

Preston’s forthcoming book, “From Lambs to Lions:  Future Security Relationships in a World of Biological and Nuclear Weapons” (Rowman and Littlefield, 2007), deals expressly with the challenges facing the US from growing nuclear and biological weapons capabilities in states like North Korea and Iran.

He can be reached by contacting Robert Strenge, WSU News Bureau, (509) 335-3583, rstrenge@wsu.edu