North Korea, nuclear proliferation and why the ‘madman theory’ is wrong about Kim Jong-un

Colin Alexander, Nottingham Trent University The two missile tests conducted by North Korea in recent days have reopened discussions about the country, its leadership, its foreign policy, its perception around the world and the use (and usefulness) of nuclear weapons as an option within global politics. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency announced on September 12 that it had test-fired a new long-range cruise missile, believed by analysts to be the country’s first missile with the capacity to carry a nuclear warhead. Three days later the South Korean military said the North had launched “two unidentified ballistic missiles” into … Continue reading North Korea, nuclear proliferation and why the ‘madman theory’ is wrong about Kim Jong-un

India stands at electoral crossroads

India starts voting today, and if one were to believe the hype surrounding the electoral bid by Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), then the polls are a mere formality.  The widely held expectation in India, propagated by a credibility-challenged media, is that Modi is a shoo-in for the post of prime minister. But opinion pollsters and media pundits have not always shown accuracy in understanding subtler realities of the world’s largest democracy. They could have goofed up again.  This Monday marked the start of an unprecedented exercise in democracy – the biggest general election in history. The first of 814.5 million … Continue reading India stands at electoral crossroads