The US has considered itself the world's policeman for more than a century. Given its wealth and military strength, we have been generally happy to let it do the job. But a series of missteps that culminated in the 2003 war in Iraq and an inability to handle threats emanating from Asia show it is time for it to hand back its badge and gun. Existing security frameworks have been ineffective and need to be torn up and rethought so we can counter the challenges.
No country highlights the need for change better than North Korea. Dictator Kim Jong-il's secretive regime continually spits war-laden rhetoric at rivals Japan, South Korea and the US. Its 1 million-strong military and 4,000 tanks near the Korean border are a constant reminder that the diatribe has to be taken seriously. A decade and a half of nuclear non-proliferation negotiations have gone nowhere - deepening the dilemma of what to do.
The need for a solution was heightened on Monday by North Korea's underground testing of a nuclear device estimated to be as powerful as the bombs the US dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945. Pyongyang last month fired a long-range ballistic missile in the guise of a satellite launch. Both incidents rightly sparked international condemnation and hand-wringing. There was good reason: it is only a matter of time before the technologies are combined to create a threat with reach far beyond northeast Asia.
US President Barack Obama's administration holds the key to lessening the threat; it can provide the diplomatic, economic and material incentives Mr Kim demands. But any dealings with North Korea require a carrots-and-sticks approach and that is not possible with so unreliable a partner. Nor would Americans take kindly to their government rewarding bad behaviour. This is, after all, a regime that is willing to let 10 per cent of its population starve to death to make a diplomatic point.
Pakistan causes similar head-scratching. The rise of Muslim extremism in a nation with a weak government and nuclear weapons provides a dangerous mix. Efforts to bring stability to neighbouring Afghanistan are being confounded by Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters being given safe haven in border communities.
Friendly governments or not, the US has a poor image in the Islamic world because of Iraq and support for Israel, so it can do little but arm Pakistan's military and hope it will succeed.
