North Korea and the Israel Connection

Like many of you I woke up to the news that Kim Jong Il, the lunatic dictator of North Korea has died. Scenes of the crying faithful were looped and re looped throughout the broadcasts and analysis of what happens next is speculative and frightful. While I shudder with fright that the world still endures repressive, military dictatorships; especially nuclear armed ones, I take comfort in the fact that we have less madmen to contend with in the new world order. Perhaps I am naive, but I'd like to believe that ultimately things will end well in the Korean Peninsula if somehow we don't screw this up too badly.

The unknown factor can be seen in the countries of the Arab Spring, where freedom and democracy are still very much in their infancy. We have yet to see if these brave rebellions will bring real reform to their countries or just another form of tribal inequity or repressive, radical Islamic states, that shaped the region for years. Then of course we still have to contend with Iran and to a smaller extent, its client and ally Syria who survive only at the will and support of China and Russia. While I am no Geo-political scholar, it's a safe bet that China and Russia won't give Iran away without a fight, after all, in their eyes, the United States has been paying a steep price to maintain its influence in the region. Maintaining Iran allows China/Russia to bleed treasure and manpower from the U.S. thus strengthening those two rivals.

Now it becomes more important than ever for the U.S. to strengthen ties with Israel who is THE ONLY stopgap in the Middle East from complete instability. America and the West have an opportunity now to defuse a ticking bomb in the Korean Peninsula, success there will augur well for other regions like the Middle East. But in the likely event that that the status quo is maintained in Korea or worse, greater tensions, then the Middle East's stability will become an even greater concern to the West, already spread thin and the rest of the world. It is such world dynamics that place Israel front and center in that crucial neighborhood. After all, relying on another ally, a Kingdom that beheads 60 year old women for practicing witchcraft, cannot under any one's definition be considered a bulwark of stability.

I'm pretty sure that today, President Obama is not upset that it's Bibi he has to deal with every day. I hope he and his advisers realize that and use today's shock and uncertainty to change the tone with the one reliable friend in that other tinder box of instability. Perhaps we will be lucky and the new leader in North Korea will figure out a way to sideline his hard line military and come to some reconciliation with the Western World. Since we all know that even if he is so inclined, it will take time, then it's best to strengthen our relationship with our friends and stand firm in the face of the few crazies we have left.