North Korea is perilously close to developing strategic nuclear weapons capable of hitting the United States and its East Asian allies. North Korea has struggled to perfect the required delivery systems. This volume offers a timely analysis of the consequences of an operational North Korean nuclear capability for international security.

Introduction: A New Challenge, a New DebateMichael D. Cohen and Sung Chull Kim 1. North Korea and Nuclear Weapons: Nonproliferation or Deterrence? Or Both?Patrick Morgan 2. North Korea's Nuclear Doctrine and Revisionist StrategySung Chull Kim 3. North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, and No Good Options? A Controlled Path to PeaceMichael D. Cohen 4. The Unraveling of North Korea's Proliferation Blackmail StrategyTristan Volpe 5. Does Nuclearization Impact Threat Credibility? Insights from the Korean PeninsulaVan Jackson 6. The North Korean Nuclear Threat and South Korea's Deterrence StrategyChaesung Chun 7. Stability or Instability? The US Response to North Korean Nuclear WeaponsTerrence Roehrig 8. Between the Bomb and the United States: China Face the Nuclear North KoreaFei-Ling Wang 9. Spear versus Shield? North Korea's Nuclear Path and Challenges to the NPT SystemYangmo Ku Conclusion: Deterrence and BeyondSung Chull Kim and Michael D. Cohen ContributorsIndex

Kim and Cohen's volume on North Korea offers a 360 degree view of one of the most vexing problems for US foreign policy and national security. The authors each bring a unique analytic angle to the problem ranging from deterrence theory to the foreign policies of key protagonists like the United States, South Korea, and China. There is something here for both the expert and the general reader who want to make sense of this enigmatic regime and its increasingly risk-acceptant behavior.

Kim and Cohen's volume on North Korea offers a 360 degree view of one of the most vexing problems for US foreign policy and national security. The authors each bring a unique analytic angle to the problem ranging from deterrence theory to the foreign policies of key protagonists like the United States, South Korea, and China. There is something here for both the expert and the general reader who want to make sense of this enigmatic regime and its increasingly risk-acceptant behavior. -- Victor Cha, D.S. Song-Korea Foundation Professor of Government and International Affairs and Director of Asian Studies, Georgetown University. Former White House NSC director for Asia and US deputy head of delegation for the Six Party Talks, and author of The Impossible State: North Korea Past and Future A set of first rate papers address the enduring North Korean nuclear saga and its strategic and political implications. The contributors capture the complexity of deterrence and compellence in Korea and the emerging strategic scenarios while providing fresh light on the choices the regional and international players are making. A must read for all interested in nuclear proliferation and East Asian security. -- T.V. Paul, James McGill Professor of International Relations, McGill University, Canada