That which we had known as the Cold War was for all intents and purposes a game of show-and-tell. For a good many years the United States and the former Soviet Union duked it out with nothing more than a lot of posturing and chest thumping. Through idle threats and demonstrations of what could be accomplished with missiles, instruments of destruction, and even space travel, our nations continuously flexed their muscles, but never exerted the power that was truly capable. It may have been a "war" in its loosest definition, but it was mostly a strange and sometimes friendly competition.

Nearly fifteen years removed from the end of that conflict we find ourselves entering a similar struggle with another far-flung communist land. North Korea - which has always been a thorn in our side - has been receiving greater attention from the US lately as they tout their plans to test launch an intercontinental ballistic missile. We have countered their plans - as real as they may or may not be - with relatively restrained promises to obliterate the missile in the event it is launched.

Such events were common to the US/USSR Cold War and if history were to repeat itself as it were wont to do we’re looking at a drawn out era of heightened tension above and beyond that we’ve come to know in our dealings with NK. It won’t be decades, but it is safe to say that for the next few years our two nations will play a boring cat and mouse game over the missile(s).

This conflict cannot be satisfied in a timely fashion because we have such a poor relationship with North Korea. NK was at one time a plaything of the Soviet Union, which made our foray into the Korean War a proxy-war with the USSR. Since then, our relations with them have not improved in the least and, as it stands now, NK currently represents our longest tenured adversarial relationship. Our government perceives NK and its constant nuclear undertakings as a legitimate threat, necessitating military funding in Asia and strict trade sanctions against NK.

This new age Cold War is most certainly anticipated to pull in even more nations who feel threatened by North Korea’s fireworks. This could turn out to be many nations as NK’s only true ally is quasi-communist China. Being out of the loop like this is completely NK’s doing as it is so old-school in its communistic nature that it has been isolationist in its philosophies, demanding central-planning and a mode of self-sufficiency for itself. This has proven to be detrimental to NK, as it has maintained closed borders to most all trade (2004 exports were only a scant $1.3 billion, mostly with China) and has organized itself to the point of being hurtful to its people: They sport a GDP per capita of only $1,700, which is a ridiculously-small 4% of ours.

In some strange twist of logic, this lack of friends and a floundering internal economy may be the reason for the missile tests. NK’s former nemesis, South Korea, has developed an improved relationship with NK in recent years, and indicates that the missile is a means to reach out a get attention; not military attention, but rather attention that will open the doors to discussions with the United States. It is believed that this will force the United States to finally sit down to discuss peace with NK, which will lift sanctions and induce normalized relations not only with the US, but the entire world. If all went according to plan this would allow NK to actively participate in the new global economy as well as global political affairs, creating a far better standard of living for its 22 million citizens.

Therefore, as tension escalates in the coming weeks and months over the ICBM test, it should be known that while the threat for warfare exists, it is not a "real" threat. It is one fraught with brazen displays of assumed power in an attempt to make a statement and is not intended to hurt anyone. As strange as it may be to assume that a missile could be designated as a carrot for peace and unity, such pomposity and drama are norms for a Cold War.