Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Alex Reside Professor Bruce Cumings from the University of Chicago speaks on Escaping the Axis of Evil: North Korea and the Bush Administration as a part of International Seminar Series inside the Bone Student Center.

Bruce Cumings, chair of the department of history at the University of Chicago, blames the Bush Administration for unfavorable relations between the U.S. and N. Korea.

Cumings discussed "Escaping the Axis of Evil: North Korea and the Bush Administration" during this week's International Seminar Series. The title comes from President Bush's state of the Union Address when he entered N. Korea in the Axis of Evil.

Bruce Cumings is a distinguished professor in history, as well as an award-winning author of several books.

"When I was a graduate student, I studied his work," Ty Wang, associate chair and professor of politics and government, said.

According to Cumings, the Bush administration was too preoccupied with the war in Iraq to notice North Korea's production of plutonium and other materials used in the production of nuclear bombs.

"Because of the War in Iraq, our diplomacy was overwhelmed," Cumings said. "We didn't have enough soldiers or money to invest in Korea."

N. Korea, violating a previous agreement that stated all of their nuclear artillery and materials used in making it had to be "frozen" for a number of years, started up prohibited production of these weapons during the Bush administration.

Cumings also stated that N. Korea is currently one of the world's most prominent dealers of firearms to nations that the U.S. refuses to deal to, such as Iran and Afghanistan.

The U.S. was on the verge of a deal with N. Korea that would have stopped the selling of certain firearms to these countries. The Bush Administration shot down the deal shortly after coming into power.

"I was really interested to learn about a region that we don't usually learn about in our education system. What I found most interesting about the seminar was information about N. Korea's attempts at reconciling with the U.S. and S. Korea," Kelly McKenna, junior history and politics and government major, said.

One of the contributing factors to the U.S.'s problems with the spread of democracy has been its consistent post-war placement of chosen officials in those countries, according to Cumings.

Cumings said the common belief for U.S. officials is that democracy is easily imposed.

When in fact, it takes years. He believes that this is a bad habit that the U.S. needs to stop.

"We pick and choose these officials based on language abilities rather than looking at their pasts," Cumings said. "We also look to make sure they have the same views as us. History makes a huge difference."

Next week, the International Seminar Series will be hosting Baron L. Pineda, from the department of anthropology at Oberlin College. Pineda will discuss human rights ethnography at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

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