Yet North Korea s world defying belligerency is not utter madness. Rather, it is a by product of its own acute fears of regime collapse.

The failure to demobilize and reconcile factions in Lebanon, where Hezbollah remained armed despite its transformation into a political party, meant that belligerency was always bubbling below the surface. Likewise, the collapse of peace processes in Angola and Haiti and the various setbacks in Cambodia and Nicaragua during the 1990 s reflect a failure to demobilize and integrate.