A “frenemy,” Dr. Taliaferro instructs us, is a country that deceives, manipulates, evades and obstructs US interests, but with whom we maintain a security alliance because we need a friend in their particularly volatile region in the world. Frenemies maneuver not out of pique, but rather are driven by divergent interests. In each of the four case studies of his new book, frenemies pursue nuclear weapons in order to enhance their status relative hostile neighbors – Pakistan v India, Israel v the Arab World, Taiwan v China, and South Korea v North Korea. Classically, nuclear proliferation theory focuses on nuke policy alone; Dr. Taliaferro corrects this narrow-sightedness. Nuclear domino th
In just 200 pages Patrick McEachern’s book, North Korea: What everyone needs to know , brings the reader up to date on the history, nuclear development, political leadership, regional dynamics and social and economic conditions of North Korea. And he offers some nuggets of truth that rarely make the headlines: “Kim Jong Un’s extraordinary weight gain while in office has been the butt of jokes, but morbid obesity raises serious health questions,” he says, further raises the possibility that Kim’s younger sister Kim Young Jo may be the apparent heir. In addition, he argues that complete de-nuclearization of North Korea may be out of diplomatic reach and, consequently, for South Koreans, ac
Many Americans today are not just stressed, they are traumatized, says Elizabeth Stanley, Ph.D., the political scientist arguing the lessons of neurobiology and tools of psychology are needed for a grass-roots, bottom-up improvement to American political life. In her new book Widen the Window, the evidence for this comes from Dr. Stanley’s own personal experience in military and civilian life, the methods she developed working with American military personnel on overcoming their trauma, and the mounting evidence of trauma’s effects on broader society. This is a time of profound social change when many of us feel our identity groups are being targeted, she says. Evidence of the broad social