|
Leaders should negotiate with North Korea, expert says
DENTON (UNT), Texas -- North Korea claims it has tested a nuclear weapon -- a move that was inevitable but needs to be dealt with through negotiations, says Dr. Geoffrey Wawro, director of the University of North Texas' Military History Center and the Major General Olinto Mark Barsanti Professor of Military History. "The North Korean regime will not bend in the face of the sanctions and pressures that we put on normal countries. This is an absolutely abnormal country, and you could see this coming from a long way off," Wawro says. "The great danger is the unpredictability and the volatility of this regime. The Kim regime's likely willingness to share or sell this technology with troublemakers is most troubling." The United States' military efforts in Iraq have shown North Korea that "we are quite mortal and we have real limitations," Wawro said. "Bringing on a military conflict is not really sensible," he says. "We should sit down and talk with these people and understand in the backs of our minds that North Korea is an eccentric country, but it's an eccentric country that needs to be dealt with. No regime that has gone nuclear has ever been persuaded to disarm. North Korea will be no different, obviously. "The Kim regime may be willing to commit suicide -- that is, inflict massive casualties on Seoul and U.S. installations in Korea before eventually being defeated," he says. "The biggest winner in such a situation will not be the U.S., but China, which will watch us suffer, lose casualties and spend billions invading and reconstructing Korea, and then step in to harvest all of the benefits, cost-free." Wawro also says the Bush administration lacks a credible plan for Korea, creating a situation as worrisome as the question of nuclear weapons. "No one there wants a reunited Korea, least of all the South Koreans, who do not want to take on East German-sized liabilities. In fact, only the U.S. is pushing for a unified peninsula," he says. "Ingenuous in Iraq, Bush appears positively naïve in Korea." Wawro joined UNT's Military History Center in the fall of 2005 after serving as the professor of strategic studies at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Wawro is also host and anchor of the History Channel and History International programs Global View, History's Business and History in Focus. Wawro can be reached by cell phone at (214) 514-7224.
UNT News Service Phone Number: (940) 565-2108
Contact: Ellen Rossetti (940) 369-7912
Email: erossetti@unt.edu
Latest News
UNT exceeds goals in 2006 State Employee Charitable Campaign
With an estimated total amount of contributions of more than $156,000 from individuals and fundraisers, UNT surpassed last year's total of $150,301. In addition, the participation rate of 46 percent was higher than the campaign goal for participation.
NT real estate program students to visit Mexico to see firsthand that nation’s real estate market
Students will meet their student counterparts and real estate profressionals while learning about Mexico's real estate market from the alumni funded project
Chicago leaders reunite at University of North Texas alumni reception
The Chicago event kicks off Bataille's inaugural tour and is designed to bring alumni outside of the North Texas region up-to-date on the university
Education professor wins Ted Booker Award
The Texas Association of Teacher Educators presented the award to Dr. Rudy Rodriguez for making an outstanding contribution in the field of teacher education.
Dean of SLIS featured in Men of Texas Libraries calendar
Herman Totten, a past president of the Texas Library Association, is Mr. February 2007 in the association's calendar, which dispells the stereotype of librarians as boring duds. All of the 18 models featured in the calendar are male librarians, in a profession that is 87 percent female.
School of Visual Arts Annual Faculty exhibition opens Nov. 20
Forty faculty members from the School of Visual Arts will exhibit their work in this annual exhibition.
| 
