North Korea and the bomb

North Korea and the Bomb offers the first in-depth history of the biggest diplomatic challenge in the post-Cold War erathe North Korean nuclear program and the U.S. and allied efforts to stop it. Drawing on years of research and dozens of interviews with officials from the major countries involved, Dr. Mazarr explains why North Korea may believe it needs nuclear weapons and how the United States has tried to thwart the North's plans. The book lays out a comprehensive history of U.S. diplomacy toward the North alongside personal vignettes of the actors in this international drama, including Westerners who traveled to North Korea to meet Kim Il Sung before his death. As a case history of nonproliferation, the book offers guidance to the future of U.S. policy in this critical area, arguing that confusion about goals and a refusal to act decisively have undermined American diplomacy. The outcome of the crisis in Korea could have decisive implications for the state of the post-Cold War world. North Korea and the Bomb traces the origins of the crisis, makes sense of current events, and points the way to a resolution. It is essential reading for anyone interested in this highly volatile area of the world.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.