idi amin and gaddafi were not really interested in the media. it on separation of powers where people can call or block your shots. i don't think he cares, long as he gets to stay as president and do his thing. i agree with michael that there is this almost childlike need by the american press to ascribe some sort of logic and coherence to trump. every other day we hear is this the time, is he becoming presidential, do we begin to see the method behind the madness? and itjust isn't the deal. even his efforts on raqqa, they said it was the art of the deal, not the art of the meal. the democrats came to him with the deal and he said ok, there was no negotiation about it. you cannot appreciate how on a daily basis trump is being persuaded by whoever is in his ear. maybe on that morning somebody said to him... this is the point about general kelly, fewer people are getting in his ear. i'm sure he has one of trump's three private cellphone numbers to call. the thing is, we look at trump and trump and trump, don't lose sight of the fact that the repub

in libya, you overthrow the gaddafi regime and there was mayhem.o learn a lesson. there's no doubt that isis will be defeated in iraq and syria. but where next? if i was to advise people in africa right now, in those traditional days we would say get your spears... start guarding the borders of africa. next it's going to be africa. they are coming to africa. these guys, you can defeat them one place, they will go somewhere else. it always happens, like in mali. the world has not learnt its lesson. so we are fighting this terrible thing right now. what comes next? have you had anybody, united nations, america, britain, anyone, talking about what they are planning for syria afterwards? isis, as you said correctly, or al-qaeda for that matter, came about because of what happened. you overthrow saddam hussein. everybody who used to be in the army of saddam hussein must not be in the army and must be persecuted in the civil service. those are the people who went to join al-qaeda. those are the people who have been setting up 70%, or 80% of isis right no

he apparently looks at videos of gaddafi's painful demise and sees that...hat happened in iran, they had a nuclear deal to try to stop that regime from pushing forward with the nuclear programme. look at the power that such a small country, with such limited resources, that has been a pariah state for so long, and yet it is gripping the most powerful man in the world. it is top of his agenda. he has got a point, unfortunately. you do wonder whether the trump dimension will actually break the deadlock that we have had to live with so long. let's look at some of the other stories. the times have a story about university secrets being stolen by cyber gangs? looks like the journalists have done freedom of information work, looking at the numberof information work, looking at the number of successful cyber attacks on different british universities. they say it has doubled in the past couple of years. i think it isjust indicative of the world we are now living in, where so much more crime isjust becoming living in, where so much more crime is just becoming an livi

the north korean leader points to what happened to colonel gaddafi.that have come to an other leaders that havercemeteran with other leaders that havercometorao with the us and stopped arrangement with the us and stopped their nuclear weapons programme. what happens is regime change. that is his fear. there should always be more room for more talk and more application of sanctions and pressure by people like china, who are the only ones who really have any influence with them. the idea of the president of the us stopping trading with china, it shows how ill suited he is to his role. makes you wonder if he has seen the numbers. we will stick with the ft. very quickly. £50 billion, i don't think so, is david davis's response to this. this is the brexit deal. you have done the numbers. this. this is the brexit deal. you have done the numberslj this. this is the brexit deal. you have done the numbers. i checked what the net contribution is to the eu. net contribution, not the amount of money we give and get back, as well. when you do the sums, the uk was

they saw libya give up its nuclear weapons and gaddafi was immediately turned out by western backed rebelshing to do would redevelop nuclear weapons is perhaps the only form of protection. i'm not sure i've heard anybody else associates like that.” am not saying it is a good thing for the world, don't get me wrong. but it doesn't do us any favours to claim that he is a madman, or that he is only a madman and there is no rationality behind it. because that leads you to the argument that he is about to attack the uk or ba threat to the uk. which is what michael fallon is sane, which is ludicrous. we do know that he is a big film fan, and can remind everybody, that die another day, one of the worst of the james bond films, has a north korean bad guy. he ends up with diamonds in his face. madonna is a fencing instructor. is it possible i made that up? i don't think so.” wish you had. the point of this, surely, is that even if we are not a threat, their weapons programme has developed faster than people expected? but that has been the story for several months now. i'm just trying to bring it ba

in 2011, the united states and nato joined in assisting the overthrow of the gaddafi regime and it ledhis execution, ultimately. and that is what they are conscious of. there is another element, which is important, which is if they do achieve self defense, then do they go further? conscious of. there is another do they seek to try to reunify with south korea, did he try to use the weapon is a way to coerce the united states to reduce it security presence on the peninsula? that is a debate going on right now. charlie: kim jong-un is a leader, but is he a rational leader? evan: this is the question that analysts in beijing and the soul are struggling with. the answer based on people i have spoken to is that he is rational. in a sense that he can be dealt with. they do not believe he is mad, they do not believe he is out of control. what they believe is he is protecting his national interests in the way he thinks he should, but that is putting him on a trajectory towards confrontation with the united states. but i think the key point is sometimes get lost, when we look at what he is doing

externally, what happened to gaddafi. if you give up nuclear, then what happens to gaddafi. what -- that's in his mind. from a different way, he is not so much advanced and created a kind of situation critical the phase we are now in. what to do about the? based on those past experiences, aat we should do for known is very difficult task. japan said that we are enjoined an alliance with the united states. this is important for japan. future, andor the all options are on the table, certainly when they talk about all options on the table that includes other options. might be the military solution. option b is sanction after sanction. to the extent that kim jong-un finally will give up the nuclear programs. is of course negotiating. option ishe military impossible. no.nswer is yes and the united states might be military, it can certainly destroy north korea. course, unpredictable consequences. we know that in 1994, they could then it much easier. today, they have addressed so much -- they have advanced so much. that youive strike couldn't annihilate. are kind of retaliations st

looking at what happened to saddam hussein and iraq and the market off the nvidia -- muammar gaddafilibya, at the hands of western forces. some have opposed the idea of china and russia offering security umbrella in exchange for nuclear weapons. there is no indication any of the parties would accept this, but it may be a way out. host: thomas, russia and north korea do have close historical ties. is that the case that pyongyang is capable of listening to the russians at this point in time? appear thedoes russian influence over pyongyang's settling increasing. but we have seen over the last year are a number of high-ranking north korean officials who have come on visits to moscow. that does suggest an increasin influence politicallyg -- increasing influence politically. the second aspect and perhaps the most visible aspect of these links between russia and north korea is commerce. the large part of trade from the north korean side, of russian trade is also significant. they have a railway line which crosses between their only land border, 11 kilometers wide in the east of the country.

because they look at the example of libya, colonel gaddafi who had a nuclear programme and was encouragedle rose up their support in the west and they disposed him. why would they ever give up their nuclear weapons? that's why there has to be an effort from multiple countries, a guarantee issued and put in place by russia and by china and china does not want the collapse of the north korean regime, they don't want a democracy on their doorstep, they don't want millions of refugees flooding into china from north korea if there is a colla pse china from north korea if there is a collapse of north korea so it is in china's self—interest to preserve and ensure that north korea remains and ensure that north korea remains a viable country and is never overthrown. that's why we need to have all parties at the table talking about these issues. ultimately, there are things that north korea will want, they want assurances that south korea and the united states are not conducting routine military exercises in preparation for an invasion of north korea because a look at what happened to gaddafi and s

om omar gaddafi was -- this was the change in history that gave a second wave to this sort of jihadist movement that has its roots back to 6 century a.d. and president of egypt, alceasy, they were worried about muslim brother hood and releasing the prisons, which they did at that time. joy another wave of these people out here. that has fuelled the fire. and you cannot take this back in time now. we have to move forward. there's a new crown prince that will be king with saudi. i think we're making great strides with the arab world. qatar is still ally with iran. the crescent moon and that being iran and iraq and syria and lebanon all under the -- they are filling that vacuum, iran is. and we talk a lot about the sunni extremists, which is isis and al qaeda. we have a shea aextremism element and they're not always not on the same page. we've had a lot of bein laden forces in iran. this, i think is going to be our growing challenge moving forward sw this ideology is again with us in our lifetimes. i hope we can move forward and get back the place where we were before 1979. >> tonight c-s

brent: a lot of analysts are saying kim jong-un does not want to be the next muammar gaddafi.hua, thank you very much. here in germany, a much anticipated face-off between the two main rivals for the nation's top job failed to set many sparks less night. just three weeks before the general election it turned out that chancellor angela merkel and her main rival martin schulz actually agree on main -- most things. germany's strained situation with turkey took up most of the time. schultz was left to press deflect -- reporter: martin schulz is still putting up a fight despite the fact the current poll results show angela merkel as the more popular chancellor candidate after sunday's tv debate. on monday in a bavarian beer tent, he went for a full frontal attack on merkel's policies. >> there is someone who wants to administer the past and it is angela merkel. there's someone who wants to shape the future and his name is martin schulz and he will tell you how it is done. reporter: he was less aggressive during the tv debate still tried to rattle merkel. first he attacked her immig

he has seen saddam and gaddafi, two very bad dictators, no question about it, not having nuclear weaponssome stage some negotiations that need to take place and china is crucial to this to make sure that whatever your regime is, and of course you were not elected through the electoral college, like the americans have, but we don't want to remove you from power. how you do that is the crucial question and the more belligerent talk there is from trump, it becomes more difficult to get that. it's interesting to see the effect it has had onjapan. you look at the country, and whatever you think of the geopolitics of those nations, they are now looking out for the first time they have raised the possibility of installing pre—emptive missile capacity. that is a really big deal for a country that constitutionally has been disinclined to do anything like that since the second world war. it's a really big change and of course, they are now having drills in a way that it must be very terrifying for the population, and there is a guardian story about this today. they have 600,000 northern koreans li

and not in any way condoning that, he clearly wishes to avoid the fate of saddam hussein in iraq or gaddafioing threatening to his neighbours and the united states. we need some sort of proposal. we have had diplomatic tracks before. it would involve somebody getting together. i think without preconditions at this stage. to size up the position. i'm not sure i have convinced myself even as i am saying this. it will be very difficult without it looking as if the west and the international community is eating humble pie. there is no feasible or responsible alternative. i asked her how south korea has reacted to the news. we have just had word from the south korean government, which has said it will ask for stronger sanctions against north korea to further isolate the country. south korea has said it is considering that more us tactical weapons could be deployed in this country. we do not have further details on what us tactical weapons means. there is a big us presence here, and last week, joint military drills by us and south korean forces were held here. as far as the nuclear test is concer

kim has looked at the fate of both saddam hussein in iraq and colonel gaddafi in libya.. so it's highly likely he will press on and try to complete an arsenal of nuclear—armed missiles. and maybe even bet the fate of his country and his people on not being stopped. the security firm gas was warned three years ago about problems with the behaviour of some of its staff towards detainees at an immigration detention centre near gatwick airport, according to a former senior manager. undercover filming for tonight's bbc panorama has already led to the suspension of ten staff, after allegations of abuse and violence. the company says there's no place for such behaviour in its workforce. our social affairs correspondent, alison holt, reports. detainee custody officer callum tulley — wearing a hidden camera — captures life inside brook house immigration removal centre, near gatwick airport. it's a volatile mix of hardened former prisoners, alongside asylum—seekers, visa over—stayers and others. the undercover filming for panorama shows drugs are rife. self—harm is common, and off

the u.n. a few years ago and talked about gaddafi and what happened in libya afterwards and and i think the un un security council now is leery of of any approaches like that and certainly they they have expressed concerns other members of the u.n. security council expressed concerns about any approach that resembles what happened in libya a few years ago so you've got to you've got to take seriously some of these blusterous comments being made before this international forum because invariably something bad can potentially happen that's why i think he should have offered more of a negotiating approach should we have not contrary to what nikki haley says we have not we have not exhausted all diplomatic approaches and. you know i'd like to talk about what i call the hamburger diplomacy that's where trump just last year and again this year offered to sit down with kim jong on over a hamburger right talk we had ping pong diplomacy with the chinese why not have hamburger and no but you know what we have to go to a break here but michael that would be called giving in that would be called ap

. >> he looked at the gaddafi example very carefully.dafi gave up nuclear weapons which was nowhere -- it was basically pieces and boxes. and it gets overthrown and the u.s. helps overthrow him. the u.s. government saying that it's not about regime change. but it can john kuhn looks at jong-unory -- if kim looks at the history here, if there was an uprising in north kim himself.t c we have assumed self-preservation is the number one objective here but i think it's very possible that blackmail, losing a weapon to get aid, these are secondary but important advantages that he sees. the u.s. government will have to make a fundamental decision. do you accept north korea as a way you'veer the accepted pakistan, india, or others that did not sign the npp ? wedo you continue to say will never tolerate you as a nuclear power. charlie: but we have come to that decision quickly. >> the moment is here. i would be interested to hear if ,avid is hearing the same thing that every time i talk to them, they say our goal is full denuclearization of the ko

the north koreans saw what happened to gaddafi after he gave up his nuclear weapons programme.appened to saddam hussein when he did not have nuclear weapons. they drew the conclusion that nuclear weapons are necessary for regime survival. in 1997, kim jong il sent his son under an assumed name to an international school near the swiss capital of berne. kim jong—un spent four years there, the north korean ambassador attended parents evenings and classmates remember his love of pizza, basketball and american pop. ascending to the leadership in 2010, kimjong—un pursuit his boyhood idols, inviting them to visit him in pyongyang. # happy birthday to you. but this youthful leader remained mindful of the threat his older brother, once air apparent, but latterly living discreetly in macau could pose, last year king jong nam was assassinated in malaysia by killers using an nerve agent. —— heir—apparent. dispensing with internal challenges, kim jong—un calculated that external threats would be best countered by speeding up the missile and nuclear weapons programme and he ignored friendly

when i was involved in the movement, i was invited to libya by muammar gaddafi to receive money to startolution against the jews. i committed acts of violence that nearly killed many people. i stockpiled weapons to prepare for what i believed was an inevitable race war. so, you so, you know, to that, i would say -- and i've worked with people in prison who have murdered people of color because of their racism. and while they were in prison, they found a way to disengage from that, which is probably the hardest environment to do that. so, you know, just to give some hope, i've worked with some very tough people who, you know, most people would never think would change, and it's really that compassion that you u show them, because that's what's been lacking both within themselves and from the people around them as they get frustrated with, you know, their loved ones' beliefs. so what i would say to jacob is, don't give up. if you care -- and it's apparent that the family cares about peter. otherwise, they wouldn't have said the things that they did, but don't give up. amy goodman: jacob, d

willing to fulfill his family's dream of retaking south korea or because he is afraid of ending up like gaddafie do not know." was one of the amazing things about being there. you get a sense everywhere you go that they are inking and talking about their weaponry. it is on every billboard. it is on the television when you are watching it at lunch. government officials say we have now achieved the ability to meet the united states had to head, toe to toe, if we need to. understandwe need to now ultimately what are they prepared to do. are they going to press the button? my impression from being there is they have no illusions. they don't believe they could get into a war with the united states and ultimately survive it , but they are scared at the moment. frankly, they are disconcerted by the fact that the u.s. president is talking about fire and fury. they are confused by the number of voices out of washington. mattis,e general rex tillerson, donald trump, and they are not sure what the united states is preparing. the risk is that if north korea gets the impression the u.s. is prepared to attac

i miss gaddafi. remember when qaddafi would come in? he would not sleep in the hotel. he'd pitch a tent in central park. >> greg: we did not let him do that, did we? >> dana: we did! yes. >> kimberly: the good old days. >> greg: amazing. >> jesse: the u.n. is as strong as the u.s. makes it. trump puts the bully and bully pulpit. just like he did with nato, pony up and pay your fair share. carry the burden because he realizes the united states is not going to be able to pay for this and do all this stuff forever. just like he did with nato. the security council has been more useful in the house and senate to a certain extent. he's got to go unanimous u.n. security council -- sanctioning the north koreans. i think trump does well in the world state, he's used to dealing with ceos and executives. not legislature where it's hard to come together with a big coalition. you see him as a man of action dealing with other world leaders effectively. >> dana: even tomorrow, before today -- i want to talk about in a second but even before today, you had people in the region of asia

once along with all the inspections, the same thing with gaddafi. he even got rid of his program. after that, we killed the guys. what do you expect? what would you do? i am no fan of his, but he feels this is the only way he can survive, and i don't blame him. past our doings of the that brought this up. host: thank you for the call. next is scott from maryland, public in line. the u.s. response, what should it be? caller: obviously, first strike against them before they can arm something. my understanding is this hydrogen bomb was 10 times more powerful or whatever than what they dropped on nagasaki. host: eight times. caller: either way, they should not get a chance to shoot it off. [indiscernible] that way we don't have to worry about him anyway. line,andy, independent michigan. caller: hello? host: you are next. caller: do you want me to speak now? host: you are on the air. caller: my feeling is he is not going to stop. he is going to keep going. i think we should hit his country with an electronic pulse bomb that takes out all the communication and strike his factories and m

correct.nalysis is once saddam hussein and gaddafi gave up their weapons, they were destroyed.hink his main message is, this is not going to happen to me. this is why i am going to continue this effort to upgrade my nuclear missile capabilities, maybe hit the united states. eventually, he has to have an endgame. i don't believe he is suicidal. his company will be destroyed, and i think he -- his country will be destroyed, and i think he knows that. waiting for that endgame is going to be difficult, but the way to do it is through diplomacy instead of all of this much he's no, with everyone , withening -- machismo everyone threatening each other and nothing seemed to happen. tinderbox.rea is a julia: great to chat with you. bill richardson, the former u.s. ambassador to the united nations. coming up next, we have three charts you can't miss. from new york, this is bloomberg. ♪ >> what'd you miss? a big cyber leap for insurers, after irma not being as bad as previously thought. credit.cks the price of an insurance policy against the defaulting companies. reinsurers have a lot of

and they look at countries like iraq under saddam hussein and libya under gaddafi. those countries and leaders gave up their weapons of mass destruction. iran came to the negotiating table. they negotiated with the united states, the other members of the u.n. security council and germany to come up with this deal. and if the united states backs out of this deal without a strong concrete reason and other countries sticks with this deal, then it brings into question the word of the united states and their credibility. and so the koreans will just point to that as well for reasons they don't want to go to the negotiating table with the americans because they'll say they just can't be trusted. so the koreans yesterday were watching that part of the speech very closely to see if the americans will stick to a deal they've already signed to. >> one thing the democrat senator robert feinstein, here's part of her statement. today the president used it as a stage to threaten war. it seems like the world was waiting for the u.s. president donald trump to turn up on that stage,

. >> he looked at the gaddafi example very carefully. gave up nuclear weapons which were nowhere -- it was basically pieces and boxes. he turned that over to the united states in 2003 and then of course, gets overthrown and the u.s. helps overthrow him. no matter how many times, i agree with that it is important the united states government announce that it's not about regime change. but if kim jong-un looks at the history here, he may not believe the u.s. would resist the temptation to participate in regime change if there was an uprising in north korea against cam and -- against kim himself. while we have assumed self-preservation is the number one objective here, i think it is very possible that blackmail, using a weapon to get aid, these are secondary but important advantages that he sees. that means the u.s. government will have to make a fundamental decision. which means, do you accept north korea as a nuclear power the way you've accepted pakistan, india, or others that did not sign the npp? or do you continue to say we will never

saddam hussein, no market off -- muammar al-assad gaddafi, bashar al-assad.ll three.aos in north k korea, basicacally saida few days ago, we don't want to be overthrown. well, that is absolutely correct. we should have diplomacy politicscs, not a nuclear exchange. amy: and china's role in this? >> china also doesn't want chaos. china is calling every day for a diplomatic response. and we know a diplomatic response is possible, indeed, when the challenge was iran, you had all five members, permanent members of the u.n. security coununcil plus germany, making historic agreement with iran. precisely the one that t trump s attacking right now, vis-a-vis, iran. we are just pushing for war. amy: are you concerned that the whole investigation of trump around russian issues is as the prosecutor is reading down his neck, that he will do something rash internationally to distract attention you go >> i dodon't kw if it is to distract attention or whether he is just psychologically profoundly unstable -- and he is -- or just ignorant, when he is, or vicious and bias in z

gaddafi, achavez warned that th devil had been there in the form of president bush. >> you're going toone against isis in syria and iraq at record pace. >> reporter: other first-time speakers include emmanuel macron of france. it is also the first u.n. general assembly for antonio guterres. >> the most serious crisis is the threat from the people's republic of korea. >> we thought trump was going to trash the organization, but his single biggest priority containing north korea is being handled right here in the security council. >> reporter: trump will also call for more reform of the u.n. unclear if he again, demands changing of the marble. richard roth, united nations. >>> the pentagon says transgendered troops are allowed to re-enlist in the united states military, this coming from the pentagon as officials review president trump's ban on transgender recruits. the president's recent order sparked controversy. many critics calling it discriminatory. transgendered troops have been openly serving in the united states military since june of 2016. >>> multiple protests took place in wash

they believe that they're not going to suffer the same fate that befell saddam hussein and muammar gaddafi were developing nuclear weapons and gave them up. when they hear donald trump say the only solution to this crisis is to give up their nuclear weapons, they say that is putting us on a path towards war. >>> i think the other piece that is important to remember is the way they regard themselves is they see themselves as having suffered and survived terrible things in their history. the korean war, the famine in the 1990s. as a government official said to me, if we had to do it again we would do it a third time and we would survive. >> yes, they say to you they have already survived things that they consider as bad as nuclear war. you asked this question that you report in your piece. if your country would be destroyed in a nuclear exchange, why are you really entertaining the idea? and what answer did you get? >> they said, because we have no other choice. in this case, they really feel as if they are on track towards survival. they feel that they're facing an existential threat from t

. >> also looking at muammar gaddafi who gave up his nuclear program and we know how he wound up. quickly, put on your hat as a former cia officer, congressman. what happens when the president of the united states ridicules kim jong-un and calls him rocket man? how do the north koreans react to that? >> well, i think kim jong-un has shown himself someone who reacts to provocations. whether that reaches the level of him responding in some way, the problem is most of north koreans, the average north korean probably has never seen that or saw that comment because the type of stranglehold that kim jong-un has on information coming in in that country. >> stand by, congressman. there's more we're going to be discussing. we have to take a quick break and resume our special coverage right after this. that goes beyond assuming ingredients are safe... to knowing they are. going beyond expectations... because our pets deserve it. beyond. natural pet food. when you're clocking out. sensing your every move and automatically adjusting to help you stay effortlessly comfortable. there. i can also

libya's muammar gaddafi tore a page of u.n. charter, ugo chavez said the devil of george w. bush was in the chamber. >> translator: and it smells of sulfur still today. >> reporter: u.s. presidents are measured in tone. >> i think you're going to have the president who did the bombing on syria from the chemical weapons, the one that has gone against isis in both syria and iraq at record pace. >> reporter: other first time speakers include president emanuel macron of france. it is also the first u.n. general assembly for antonio. >> most dangerous crisis we face is today the crisis to the nuclear risk in relation to the democratic people's republic of korea. >> reporter: donald trump has made the u.n. unexpectedly relevant. we thought that trump was going to trash the orls, but his single biggest foreign policy priority containing north korea is being handled right here in the security council. >> reporter: trump will also call for more reform of the u.n. unclear if he, again, demands changing of the marble. richard roth, cnn, united nations. >>> coming up, hot on irma's trai

incident happened as the sri lanka team were arriving at the gaddafi stadium and lahore eight years ago six members of the side who were injured while six pakistan a policeman and two civilians were killed subsequently pakistan have been a force to play home matches in neutral countries with the united arab emirates hosting the majority of their games in two thousand and fifteen zimbabwe played games in pakistan and earlier this year the final of the pakistan super league was held in the hole that was the first time high profile cricketers from outside pakistan had played in the country and now at the world eleven is getting ready for tuesday's series opener. each one of them knows that this trip is not just about cricket it's about something more something more historic. and therefore. they have lent a shoulder to this effort. and i'm very grateful to all of them for making this trip. to the people of pakistan and welcome them. these cricket is again. in the safe and steady rich international cricket in pakistan so that they can. and follows a pakistan cricket team once again start wat

with the west decided to give up its own nuclear weapons programme and look what happened to colonel gaddafiis to carry the best possible stick. it is a question you can't answer, but i'm going to ask you anyway. they are asking to think as kim jong—un is thinking. is it possible that the north made up its mind to start a warand north made up its mind to start a war and the recent launches are the last preparation for it? all the questions are an attempt 20 to get inside the head of kimjong—un. we can't do that. but we can have a sta b can't do that. but we can have a stab at t most people think no, this is not a leader who is hell bent on launching a war come hell or high water because as i said earlier that would be suicide and he is not a mad man. he is capable of calculation. he and his father and his grandfather had that same capability. he wants the ability to be able to make credible threats and so for that reason he does seem to be absolutely determined to achieve the technoical know how to be able to deliver you know a strike. what does he want that for? perhaps because ultimately h

people talk of him preserving his position, thinking of maybe saddam hussein and colonel gaddafi, who want the same thing to happen. there is something in that, and he has made a weapons programme central to his regime. we were told the economy is improving, so possession of nuclear weapons and missiles has become, for him, a kind of national standard he has to achieve. we forget about this, but there is a long history going back, to the korean war which is represented in north korea although actually it was the north koreans who attacked the south but it is represented as the americans attacking north korea so there is a mythology which has built up there is a mythology which has built up under which north korea has to have advanced weapons in order to defend itself as a deterrent and that has become a kind of motif, the overwhelming element in his rule, and at the same time he would use that, if he does become a nuclear power, and is recognised as such, to try and exert greater regional influence, particularly over south korea. do you think he is the most extreme, if you like, leade