ABSTRACT
Branding Hussein and others as “rogue” leaders arguably brings needed attention to their heinous practices. The Iraqi leadership under Saddam Hussein directed the slaughter of Kurds and Shiites within Iraq and instigated a war with Iran that resulted in a million deaths. Hussein even used chemical weapons against the Kurds and Iran to exact a higher death toll. For its part, the North Korean regime has pursued policies that have bankrupted the North Korean economy, oppressed its people, and impeded a resolution of conflict on the Korean peninsula over half a century after the Korean armistice. The North Korean regime is troublesome, in fact, because of its willingness to tolerate a high degree of separation from the global community-“to endure international isolation and opprobrium” (Coe 2005: 76)—and to flaunt its violations of treaty commitments. For instance, in 2003, North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and, in the recent past, has claimed to possess a nuclear arsenal and program for enriching uranium, and conducted a nuclear test.
