Using the example of the conflict over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, describe how the three major challenges to international relations complicate the political situation.

What will be an ideal response?

The three major challenges of international relations are anarchy, diversity, and complexity. Concerns over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program are affected by anarchy in that there is no central authority to compel all concerned to play nice with each other. Diversity is clearly involved as well. North Korea is small and economically weak, but militarily strong. South Korea has a modern, developed economy but many of its citizens don’t take the North Korean threat seriously. The United States is the only state in the international system with superpower capabilities, but Japan and China both have considerable military and economic power to bring to this conflict if necessary, and China does not want any actions that increase the rate of North Korean illegal immigration into China! As for complexity, North Korea wants to feel safe, South Korea seems to want to be secure and left alone, China wants no nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula, but that horse has already left the barn! China also wants the advantages of being North Korea’s economic safety valve but not the disadvantages of being responsible for North Korea’s actions. Both Japan and the United States want to feel safe from a North Korean threat that seems more likely as time goes on.