"We have taught the rest of the world" to view nuclear weapons as a symbol of respect..."
As Martin Sherwin suggested in his talk at Tisch Library on Tuesday, the United States has taken on the role of a teacher in the international community and perhaps has unintentionally instructed nations such as North Korea to revert to using nuclear weapons as a way to get attention and esteem.
Although the strained relationship between the United States and North Korea can be traced back decades, it is useful to focus on President Bush's January 2002 declaration of North Korea as a member of the 'axis of evil' as not only an insult to the small Asian state, but as a self-fulfilling prophecy. This expresses the current administration's lack of faith in the future of North Korea as an accepted member in the world community.
Students of social psychology are familiar with the concept of a "self-fulfilling prophecy":-namely, that predictions - simply because they are made - shape outcomes and ultimately come true. This is common in classrooms when teachers identify students early on as over- or underachievers and treat them accordingly. It's easy to give "good" students the benefit of the doubt, while assuming the worst-case scenario with the behavior of "bad" students. As a consequence of differential treatment, the students actually perform better or worse.
Analogously, the United States as a hegemonic power acts like a teacher: the United States sets the rules and ignores them when it deems it necessary, the United States punishes other countries for bad behavior and rewards them for good behavior, and it uses invasions, sanctions, diplomatic support,and military and economic assistance as learning tools.
Just as a teacher tries to control and attend to all the students equally, the current administration is trying to balance relations with many nations in many regions and unify U.S. policies to achieve broader goals of "winning the war on terrorism." In an overcrowded classroom, some "needy, attention-craving" children are ignored and, thus, feel compelled to "act up" to get attention." To that end, the current administration has their hands full of "problem children," as it continuously divides its attention between Iraq and Iran to the detriment of N. Korea.
While it is understandable that it is impossible for the U.S. to give equal diplomatic "attention" to all three of these previously identified "evil" children, as the world's teacher and rule-enforcer, it is important that the current administration take a step back to consider whether their policies inadvertently encouraged the North Korean nuclear test this week.
As suggested in the front-page New York Times news analysis on Tuesday, it might be time for the current administration to readjust their strategy towards nuclear proliferation and adapt it to the current situation. (Tufts students will attest that the best teachers are flexible and respond to the needs of each student.)
The Bush administration must re-evaluate the goals of their lesson plans if we are to be successful in adverting nuclear war. If the Bush administration continues to treat North Korea as a problem child (or ignore it and, instead, only focus on Iran) North Korea will remain a problem child. If the United States punishes North Korea for its nuclear test without offering incentives for better behavior or giving the nation the respect it craves, it is hard to imagine a peaceful outcome.
According to Sherwin, Robert Oppenheimer, the father of nuclear technology, would concur that diplomacy is the best policy for dealing with a reticent, nuclear North Korea. The test of diplomacy is now on the teacher, as the next few weeks will be filled with tests of diplomacy within the halls of the United Nations.
The other students-especially "evil" Iran-are closely observing U.S policies to learn any lessons that will help them in their showdown with the teacher. For the sake of the peace in the world classroom, U.S.-led diplomacy must not fail, and we must set a good example at this critical juncture.
