As Condoleezza Rice seeks to drum up support for tough sanctions against North Korea, Ed at the Captain's Quarters blog argues that the real issue is the illegal transfer of nuclear material.
"Kim Jong-Il has a reputation as a proliferator of conventional weapons, and with his nuclear program able to generate weapons-grade material, Rice wants to stop that particular export before it starts. Radiation detection sensors could flag such cargo before it falls into the hands of terrorists. That equipment hardly qualifies as provocative, and the US can reasonably expect nations such as China and Russia to comply with the request."
North Korea, or its leader at least, seems to enjoying being at the centre of this diplomatic typhoon. Kim Jong-il was all smiles yesterday at an appearance at a sound and light extravaganza to mark the 80th anniversary of the founding of the precursor to the ruling Communist Workers Party.
Ciaran Parker at Planet Parker found the spectacle, a cross between a Busby Berkeley musical and a Nuremberg rally, nightmarish.
The more I looked at these images of thousands of people carrying torches against a black background the more queasy I became. It was horrible, like a nightmare. A bit like Mississippi Burning, or maybe The Wicker Man without Britt Ekland and the sexy dancing.
Kim Jong-il can afford to be relaxed. He knows he holds all the cards, no matter how bleak his long-term prospects are. North Korea's weakness - it is an economic basket case that can hardly feed its people - is its strength.
The threat of economic collapse - a huge outflow of refugees to China and South Korea, is its trump card. It is this scenario that precludes China from taking any tough action against the hermit kingdom.
So while the US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice tours the region, calling for swift and effective implementation of sanctions against North Korea, China is balking at the idea of boarding and searching North Korean ships.
The A Step at A Time blog picks up a very useful analysis by George Friedman who goes through all the conflicting goals of the key players in this crisis that, he argues, shows the limits of multilateralism.
