[Opinion] North Korea’s New Law Is Far From the Only Nuclear Threat the World Faces

North Korea’s New Law Is Far From the Only Nuclear Threat the World Faces

We face a gulf between the constitutional theory of shared power in government and nuclear practice that continues to loom over global conflict.

[Elaine Scarry] North Korea’s new law is far from the only nuclear threat the world faces

North Korea passed a law this month putting into effect Kim Jong-un’s decision that in case he is incapacitated by foreign hands, the country will “automatically and immediately” launch a nuclear retaliation. This arrangement makes it sound as though the North Korean nuclear arsenal is not only designed to be used by one man but exists to keep that one man in power. Is this arrangement an aberration...