4 ms·

There is sure no better way to show how you are constrained by the system than by ordering the assassination of your exiled brother with nerve gas in a foreign

There is sure no better way to show how you are constrained by the system than by ordering the assassination of your exiled brother with nerve gas in a foreign country !

rleigh 7y ago
I certainly don't doubt that he has considerable freedom of action in some areas, perhaps so long as his upper echelons agree with it. However, that doesn't imply he has the same freedom of action in all areas.
- alacombe 7y ago
  It's not as if his "upper" echelon had a strange tendency to get suicided either.
Mediterraneo10 7y ago
The OP’s entire point is that often such decisions may be compelled by the opinions of the generals surrounding Kim. It has often been claimed that while a godlike aura is created around the Kim dynasty for the North Korean masses, decisionmaking has always involved negotiation between the Kims and senior military officials.
- alacombe 7y ago
  By senior military, do you mean his late uncle ? Assassinated as well.
  - rleigh 7y ago
    No dictator has absolute power. They can't rule a nation single-handedly. Their will is enacted through others. There are many generals, and in essence an entire ruling class who run the country, and benefit from the status quo. He rules through them, and his power depends upon their consent to follow his leadership. His uncle is almost an irrelevance. The system continued. It might have even been in the interest of others in that system that his uncle was removed to benefit them in some way. But, none of that really has much bearing upon the original point: His rule depends upon others, and they will place constraints upon what he can and cannot do. It doesn't matter how enlightened, or how despicable, his wishes are. It will depend upon others to carry them out, or to refuse to do so. And they might have their own agendas and demands as well. That is what I meant by walking on a knife edge. He must balance competing internal interests, plus external ones, in order to maintain his position and the stability of the nation. One critical mistake, and he's gone. The same applies to all of the other people in power there as well. They benefit from their position, but one mistake and they are gone too. Not nice, but that's the way it is.
  - Mediterraneo10 7y ago
    Plenty of historical examples from authoritarian states of generals conspiring to do away with a fellow general they don’t like for whatever reason.

There is sure no better way to show how you are constrained by the system than by ordering the assassination of your exiled brother with nerve gas in a foreign country !

rleigh 7y ago

I certainly don't doubt that he has considerable freedom of action in some areas, perhaps so long as his upper echelons agree with it. However, that doesn't imply he has the same freedom of action in all areas.

alacombe 7y ago
It's not as if his "upper" echelon had a strange tendency to get suicided either.

Mediterraneo10 7y ago

The OP’s entire point is that often such decisions may be compelled by the opinions of the generals surrounding Kim. It has often been claimed that while a godlike aura is created around the Kim dynasty for the North Korean masses, decisionmaking has always involved negotiation between the Kims and senior military officials.

alacombe 7y ago
By senior military, do you mean his late uncle ? Assassinated as well.
- rleigh 7y ago
  No dictator has absolute power. They can't rule a nation single-handedly. Their will is enacted through others. There are many generals, and in essence an entire ruling class who run the country, and benefit from the status quo. He rules through them, and his power depends upon their consent to follow his leadership. His uncle is almost an irrelevance. The system continued. It might have even been in the interest of others in that system that his uncle was removed to benefit them in some way. But, none of that really has much bearing upon the original point: His rule depends upon others, and they will place constraints upon what he can and cannot do. It doesn't matter how enlightened, or how despicable, his wishes are. It will depend upon others to carry them out, or to refuse to do so. And they might have their own agendas and demands as well. That is what I meant by walking on a knife edge. He must balance competing internal interests, plus external ones, in order to maintain his position and the stability of the nation. One critical mistake, and he's gone. The same applies to all of the other people in power there as well. They benefit from their position, but one mistake and they are gone too. Not nice, but that's the way it is.
- Mediterraneo10 7y ago
  Plenty of historical examples from authoritarian states of generals conspiring to do away with a fellow general they don’t like for whatever reason.