North Korea has a nuclear weapon, and it isn't really a friend of the United States; in fact, while the war was on between Iran and the US-Israel duo, Kim Jong Un decided to launch a battery of twelve missiles in the sea next to South Korea, announcing to the US and the world that he would better not be forgotten. A meme during the last few weeks shows Kim standing next to a long-range missile launcher and smiling away to the world with an inscribed message, "Good wishes from Pyongyang". Almost as if you want to be respected in today's world, or at least be safe from predation, this (nuclear weapon) can help. Yet the US is sanguine about North Korea being a nuclear-capable country. Power begets deference. Nuclear weapons-capable nations keep a respectable distance from each other and know how to coexist.

Should Iran going nuclear, or the threat of it, bother China, Russia, or the US? Probably not. These nations can overwhelm Iran even if it were nuclear. Perhaps, Pakistan, India and Israel would. Pakistan and India for being tied into a contiguous evolving ring of middling nuclear-capable nations. And then the spectre of Turkey following suit in due course, which will complete the chain. Add China, India and Pakistan's northern contiguous extension, and you can see how Armageddon shapes. Iran and Turkey going nuclear will mean Saudi Arabia going the same way. Egypt will catch up, too. And a real spectre emerges. But the US remains safely tucked away from confrontation. Israel would be the only one finding itself facing a triple threat – Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Rather than the US, Israel would not like Iran to go nuclear. Donald Trump is in it for the company in this........

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