The North Korea-ification of Iran
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/01/the-north-korea-ification-of-iran/251100/
On a cool, clear day in the fall of 2010, about 200 people living on the quiet suburban island of Yeonpyeong, many of them families, fled for their lives. Yeonpyeong lies in the Yellow Sea in a small disputed region that both North and South Korea claim falls within their border. South Korea has long held the island, but on November 23, 2010, North Korea sent artillery shells raining onto its most densely populated areas without apparent warning or provocation. Only two people were killed, but more were wounded and South Korea's 50 million people had to once again confront the fear of a second Korean War.
The incident was a symptom and a reminder of North Korea's extreme belligerence and isolation, a combination that has proven as deadly as it is resilient. Global efforts to engage or open North Korea have not only failed but often gave Kim Jong Il added time or leverage to worsen his government's bad behavior. Attempts to punish North Korea with sanctions only seem to further entrench the isolationist regime. South Korea's occasional show of military might has neither deterred nor dissuaded Pyongyang; when North Korea again shelled the disputed territory this August, South Korea returned fire, something that likely seemed like a rational response but only made conflict more likely. As Reuters' Jack Kim put it, "both Koreas regularly conduct exercises near their disputed maritime border, raising the risk of a miscalculation by either side which could ignite a wider war."
It's hard to imagine that Iran's relations with the outside world could possibly get as bad as North Korea's, but Tehran has managed to provoke in new and exasperating ways this week. It threatened to forcefully close the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world's oil supply passes, announced that it would kick off a new uranium enrichment site, and sentenced an Iranian-American to death for "spying." Tehran's belligerence has brought it only pain: the European Union is moving toward an all-out oil embargo and even the major Asian economies, Iran's last real customers, are looking to buy less Iranian energy.
Just was with North Korea, nobody is coming out ahead in the great Iran-Earth stand-off. Everyone is worse-off economically for the slow shut-down of Iranian energy. Everyone is less safe, whether they are within or without Iran's borders, as Iran and the West parry threats and provocations. The region and the world are less predictable, more dangerous places as a result. And yet neither Iran nor its challengers are changing course. For every Iranian act of defiance, there is an American punishment; for every American pressure, there is an Iranian retaliation.