North Korea fascinates us. Its leaders, their posturing and militarism, their economics, and more all fascinate us. Their belligerence puts them in the news often. Yet we know little about them. More than fascinating, they are globally important. They are a nuclear power with the world’s fourth largest military and most militarized border. Yet the media, mainstream and otherwise, mystifies them more. No one explains how or why anyone could[…] Keep reading →

Memorable, effective words: Ich bin ein Berliner! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! Two American Presidents were able to strike public relations coups with speeches in Berlin. In both cases they had limited ability to influence the Soviets, though they had great ability to speak to the people on the front lines of the Cold War. I understand their words resonated strongly with them. Few wanted the division through Europe,[…] Keep reading →

When North Korea holds an event, they do it on scales few others match, though they are announcing only their third leader since 1948, so you can understand their enthusiasm. Here is the site of the rally declaring Kim Jong-un’s succession to Supreme Leader when we visited.The New York Times published this picture of the rally today Wow, that’s a lot of people. Very tightly ordered too. The first thing[…] Keep reading →

The media continue with their “great man” model of leadership with regard to Kim Jong Un’s succession. They imply if things are happening, the person in the leadership position must be making them happen. I think a systems perspective more accurately describes the situation. For example, today’s New York Times describes him becoming “supreme commander” of the military, signaling that his succession is moving forward unimpeded. They imply some chance[…] Keep reading →

To follow up the talk I organized for Srikumar Rao, Srikumar’s business manager offered deep discounts (almost half price) for members of the Columbia Business School alumni club (anyone can join, whether they went there or not) to take the New York session of his course, Creativity and Personal Mastery (CPM). Having taken it about four years ago, I recommend the course without reservation. Click here for a pdf with[…] Keep reading →

Reading the spate of articles on Kim Jong Il and North Korea, I’ve seen what look from my perspective misinterpretations. Reporters repeatedly succumb to ascribing to the leader what I consider properties of the system. I think they adopt a great-man model that says if something is working, someone must be making it happen. With only Kim Jong Il or Kim Il Sung around, it must be them. Misallocating causes[…] Keep reading →

Niels Bohr aptly said “prediction is very difficult, especially of the future.” The main question now is what will happen next. As expected, state media named Kim Jung Il’s son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor. I’ve read speculation that unrest or power struggles may follow. I predict not. My series on North Korea strategy concluded that its power structure relies on stability and loyalty. Not only does its top leader[…] Keep reading →