North Korea: the ambiguous behavior of China and Russia

US sources have also confirmed that the last missile launched by North Korea and dropped in Japanese waters could reach the state of Alaska and thus hit the United States as Pyongyang has repeatedly threatened. The scenario that appears is probably the most alarming since the end of the Cold War. It can not be wrong to the White House when it states that the current situation is due to a too soft response to North Korean provocations. Obama's policy of bargaining on economic and diplomatic sanctions was largely unconvinced by Trump, who, despite the threats, did not carry out any military action, unless he was in the habit of joint maneuvers with the South Korean armed forces. However, Europe-backed American conduct can not have practical and concrete effects if other states, while officially signing sanctions, then continue to maintain business relations with Pyongyang. Indeed, Beijing would have even increased trade in the last four months. If this were confirmed the suspicion that China is using North Korea as a pressure element on the United States, it would not be so improbable. On the other hand, China has the interest that the Korean peninsula remains divided into two states, because in the prevailing reunification hypothesis, Seoul and Beijing would thus have American troops directly on their own. If this hypothesis were true, the Chinese conduct would be ambiguous and very dangerous. Trump, though in its unpopular ways, has repeatedly called for Beijing to exert its influence on the North Koreans to bring a more calm state to the region. It must be acknowledged, however, that, apart from rite declarations, Beijing was characterized by immobility, which at best gave courage to the North Korean dictator. Even the Russian attitude, after the Kremlin realized that it could not influence the political lobby and the military, appears to have changed in the United States: the diatribe between Washington and Moscow on the need for greater sanctions against Pyongyang shows that distances Between the two countries are far short of. Could it be possible for China and Russia to take advantage of North Korea's pressure to bring the United States to a reaction that could generate great international uncertainty and crush American primacy? The possibilities in international politics are endless, but as long as North Korea missiles that could not cover the distance from the United States, pentagonal retaliation was highly unlikely; But the last missile test has changed everything. Washington is now in a position to defend itself from a possible nuclear attack after receiving repeated and explicit threats. The feeling that China and Russia do not do enough to limit the chances of a disastrous event begin to become more than certainties. The impression is that Pyongyang always comes to the limit and then stops, but it is a fact that at this point had never arrived. In the possible scenarios one can no longer discard a preventive intervention, although trying to destroy the atomic arsenal of Pyongyang is far from easy. The easiest solution would be for China to determine the fall of North Korean dictatorship, keeping control over the country: Beijing would have the military and economic strength to do so, but if it continues in the current line, it means that these are not their intentions. A conventional war, conducted by the US and possibly its regional allies on the ground, seems to be discarded, as it would give Pyongyang time to implement its nuclear threats not only towards the US, but also against South Korea and Japan. Expectations could wreak havoc on the United States, which now have to go through the diplomatic route, especially with Beijing and Moscow, and this puts them at a disadvantage, a situation where nervousness could lead to very dangerous developments.