Double Trouble: Iran and North Korea as Challenges to International Security(Praeger Security International)

North Korea possesses nuclear weapons, while Iran is poised to acquire them in the next decade. How the United States and other nations seek to roll back these burgeoning nuclear powers is among the most urgent issues of the day. At stake is regional security in the Persian Gulf and Northeast Asia, America's standing abroad, and prospects for nuclear non-proliferation. This book offers complementary international perspectives on these threats and the peaceful responses to grapple with the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs. Leading authorities provide balanced analyses—together with new chronologies and maps—that make the volume an invaluable reference for all those interested in understanding options available in dealing with Iran and North Korea. The contributors to this volume offer complementary international perspectives on the critical security issues that stem from the challenges posed by Iran and North Korea. No other work combines the analysis of the two countries and explores the threat posed by each to regional stability and world order. The book examines how and why attempts to curb the nuclear programs and broader political ambitions of each nation have failed. It also examines how each nation, in its own way, has managed to defy the world's preponderant power, the United States, as well as other major powers and the United Nations. And it offers analysis on where the fractured and oscillating relations with these two nettlesome actors are heading and the long-term implications of their current trajectories for nuclear proliferation, deterrence, alliance management, regional security, and world order. Expert, balanced analyses—augmented by new chronologies and maps—make the volume an invaluable reference for all those interested in understanding the options available in dealing with Iran and North Korea.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction: The Dual Challenge of Iran and North Korea Patrick M. Cronin Part I: Iran 1. The Trouble with Iran Patrick M. Cronin 2. Is Iran's Nuclear Capability Inevitable? Mark Fitzpatrick 3. Understanding Iran's Nuclear Ambitions Shahram Chubin 4. The Inexorable Momentum of Escalation Alexei G. Arbatov Part II: North Korea 5. The Trouble with North Korea Patrick M. Cronin 6. Back to Square One on the Korean Peninsula Sung-Joo Han 7. North Korea: Getting to Maybe? Mitchell B. Reiss 8. Security and the Korean Peninsula: China's Role Liru Cui 9. Engaging the United States and China: North Korea's Missile and Nuclear Tests Narushige Michishita Conclusion: Managing Double Trouble Patrick M. Cronin Appendices Index About the Contributors

About the Author :
Patrick M. Cronin is Director of Studies at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and previously directed research at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, United States Institute of Peace, and Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Review :
In this informative volume, several policy analysts examine various aspects of these two countries' nuclear programs. Cronin, director of studies at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies, introduces the sections on Iran and North Korea with a comparative overview chapter. The book's contributors analyze presumed motivators behind the nuclear course taken by the leadership of Iran and North Korea and offer policy alternatives for engaging both of these countries….Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections. Comprised of nine new essays and based on the analysis of eight experts, Double Trouble is an integrative volume that focuses on the proliferation threats posed by North Korea and Iran to the international community.