This article was originally included in our Fall 2024 edition.

On September 13th, The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled “Kim Jong Un’s Latest Flaunt: A Secret Nuclear Site Now Shown in Public.” The piece describes how North Korea’s burgeoning relationship with Russia has given the hermit kingdom the confidence to flagrantly display its nuclear capabilities and test missiles in spite of international condemnation. ¹ The events in this report are best described through the lens of realist theory, due to the article’s focus on interactions between two state actors, interactions based on both countries’ desire to safeguard their security by increasing their power. ² While this article could be analyzed through a liberal perspective, which would focus on international responses to North Korea’s proliferation, the inability of the primary international organization mentioned in this piece, the United Nations (U.N.), to apply pressure to the Kim regime best reflects realist critiques of such institutions.³

North Korea and Russia’s alliance, characterized by a mutually beneficial relationship between the states to increase their power and ensure their security, strongly illustrates realist views on international relations. For realist theorists, three principles guide their view of global politics. First, the only meaningful actors are state actors. Second, the world is an anarchic system lacking an overarching authority that can regulate state actions. Third, the primary object of a state is to increase or maintain its power in the name of guaranteeing its security and survival. ²The fact that the two primary actors in this article are state actors, and the only non-state actor explicitly mentioned (the U.N.) was largely powerless over North Korea serves as a powerful representation of the first realist principle. Furthermore, the inability of the U.N. to deter or even effectively discipline North Korea for developing its nuclear facilities justifies the second point of the realist view. ¹ Finally, the third realist principle can be seen through the nature of North Korea’s and Russia’s relationship, which exists to increase each state’s power. ² Russia helps North Korea because it values North Korean arms transfers for its war against Ukraine, just as North Korea aids Russia because it values Russian nuclear technicians. ¹ In Russia and North Korea, their respective objectives to conquer Ukraine and increase their quantity of nuclear weapons are based on the belief that such actions are necessary for their nation’s security. ⁴ Russia fears NATO expansion will eventually lead to Russia being “dismembered,” while the Kim regime sees nuclear weapons as necessary to guarantee its survival. ⁴ The extent to which the choices of state actors in this story align with realist principles makes a compelling case for why this article should be viewed through that lens. 

However, as the authors in Introduction to Global Politics claim, as each theory in global politics ranks similarly important inputs differently, no theory can stake the greatest claim to objective accuracy. ⁵  It may be beneficial to examine this story from the liberal perspective, which believes states should cooperate to achieve global human rights, liberal democracy, and free trade. This theory puts great value on the ability of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to effect change.²  Liberal theorists would question why the U.N. failed to deter North Korea and examine how to improve the efficacy of U.N. responses. Even with that perspective in consideration, the realist view still better reflects the events in this article. Realists’ critique of NGOs lies in the belief that such organizations only have as much power as their strongest members allow them to possess. ³ Despite the U.N.’s desire to take comprehensive action against North Korea, the country’s alliance with Russia, which wields a permanent veto on the U.N. Security Council, prevents the organization from properly maneuvering in the wake of an influential and non-cooperative member. ¹

Works Cited

1. Dasl Yoon, “Kim Jong Un’s Latest Flaunt: A Secret Nuclear Site Now Shown in Public,” The Wall Street Journal, September 13, 2024, www.wsj.com/world/asia/kim-jong-uns-latest-flaunt-a-secret-nuclear-site-now-shown-in-public-c98fa110?mod=world_feat6_asia_pos2.

2. Tim Dunne et al., “Realism, Liberalism and Critical Theories,” in Introduction to Global Politics, 7th edition, ed. Steven Lamy et al., (Oxford University Press, 2023), 89; 91-93.  

3. Renée Marlin-Bennett, “More on Theory,” Introduction to Global Studies. (class lecture, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, September 9, 2024)

4. Ken Moskowitz, “Did NATO Expansion Really Cause Putin’s Invasion?” The Foreign Service Journal, October 2022, 27; 29, afsa.org/did-nato-expansion-really-cause-putins-invasion; Bryce Wakefield, “Revisiting History: North Korea and Nuclear Weapons,” Wilson Center, December, 2010, www.wilsoncenter.org/event/revisiting-history-north-korea-and-nuclear-weapons. 

5. John Baylis et al., “Foundations of Global Politics,” in Introduction to Global Politics, 7th edition, ed. by Steven Lamy et al. (Oxford University Press, 2023), 20; 23. 

Photo Credit: Alexei Nikolsky