The Impossible State

Product Description

Much discussed & often maligned, precious little is known or understood about North Korea, the world`s most controversial & isolated country. In ” The Impossible State” Victor Cha pulls back the curtain, providing an unprecedented insight into North Korea`s history, the rise of the Kim family dynasty, & the obsessive personality cult that surrounds them. He illuminates the repressive regime`s complex economy & culture, its appalling record of human-rights abuses, its belligerent relationship with its neighbours & the United States, & analyzes the regime`s major security issues
- from the seemingly endless war with its southern counterpart to its terrifying nuclear ambitions
- all in the light of the destabilizing effects of Kim Jong-il`s recent death. How has this enigmatic nation-state continued to survive when it regularly violates its own citizens` inalienable rights & has suffered severe famine, global economic sanctions, a collapsed economy, & near-total isolation from the rest of the world? Cha reveals a land facing a pivotal & disquieting transition of power from tyrannical father to inexperienced son, & delves into the ideology that leads an oppressed, starving populace to cling so fiercely to its failed leadership. With rare personal anecdotes from the author`s time in Pyongyang & his tenure as a White House adviser, this engagingly written, authoritative, & highly accessible account offers much-needed answers to the most pressing questions about North Korea & ultimately warns of a regime that might be closer to its end than many might think
- a political collapse for which the Western world may be woefully unprepared.