The Madman Theory involves a US president leading a foreign leader to believe that they are insane in order to close a deal. This strategy is most famous for its employment by Richard Nixon in his communications with the Communist government of the old Soviet Union. Today, our current president is using it in his negotiations with North Korea. He has used an array of degenerative nicknames, military displays of power near the border, threats of force and references to America's overwhelming fighting strength to strike some fear into the heart of Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. As it looks right now, Kim has shown no signs of backing down, and since nuclear war would be the worst outcome of this situation, it seems that Trump will keep making empty threats in one place, divert attention with more threats in another, and continue the cycle of madness.
Not only is this particular episode with the Madman Theory eerily comparable to Nixon's time in office, but the calling of Trump's bluff on Kim's part is similar to Mao Zedong's refusal to seriously consider American nuclear threats in the Cold War. Many Chinese attacks on American soldiers in East Asia went unchallenged on our side, and certainly no nuclear bombs were used. Another notable similarity is that in no circumstances where an administration employed this strategy did it effectively work in our favor. Coincidence? I don't think so either.
https://www.wired.com/story/donald-trump-madman-strategy-north-korea-nuclear-weapons/
its interesting how similar nixon and our current president can be sometimes
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm glad that some of the pressure that has been put on North Korea has worked. I would hope that it would not cause those in power to become too passive in the evil regime in Korea.
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