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Navy Admiral Stavridis: North Korea Biggest Security Threat To U.S.

North Korea recently completed its fifth ballistic missile launch. It’s a move that defies growing international consensus that views the secretive, nuclear-armed nation as a grave threat to international order.

While it’s received relatively little attention in the U.S. presidential campaign, North Korea could be the next president’s thorniest foreign policy problem, according to some international relations experts.

Retired Navy Admiral James Stavridis, dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, tells Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson why North Korea is “the most dangerous country in the world.”

Guest

James Stavridis, retired Navy Admiral and current Dean of The Fletcher School at Tufts University. He’s the former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO. He tweets @stavridisj.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

This undated picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on June 23, 2016 shows a test launch of the surface-to-surface medium long-range strategic ballistic missile Hwasong-10 at an undisclosed location in North Korea.
The Musudan -- also known as the Hwasong-10 -- has a theoretical range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres (1,550 to 2,500 miles). / AFP / KCNA VIA KNS / KCNA / South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT   ---EDITORS NOTE--- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, LOCATION, DATE AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PHOTO IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY AFP.  /         (Photo credit should read KCNA/AFP/Getty Images)
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This undated picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on June 23, 2016 shows a test launch of the surface-to-surface medium long-range strategic ballistic missile Hwasong-10 at an undisclosed location in North Korea. The Musudan -- also known as the Hwasong-10 -- has a theoretical range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres (1,550 to 2,500 miles). / AFP / KCNA VIA KNS / KCNA / South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT ---EDITORS NOTE--- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, LOCATION, DATE AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PHOTO IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY AFP. / (Photo credit should read KCNA/AFP/Getty Images)