Mad, bad, sad or rational actor: Why the 'securitization' paradigm makes for poor policy analysis of North Korea

Abstract

This article argues that the dominant paradigm for understanding and explaining north Korean domestic and international politics is in crisis. The dominant securitization paradigm is divided into its 'bad' and 'mad' elements and is derived from the crudest of Cold War politics and theories. The paradigm no longer provides a useful frame of reference for international policy-makers having to 'do business' with North Korea. The intervention of the humanitarian community in north Korea since 1995 has shown the obsolescence of the securitization paradigm and provided the foundation for two alternative approaches-the 'sad' and the 'rational actor' conceptual framework. The article concludes by arguing for the utility of a historicized and contextualized rational actor model which, it is argued, offers a realistic underpinning for international policies that seriously wish to promote peace, stability and freedom from hunger on the Korean peninsula.