Ann Wright — The Logic in North Korean ‘Madness’

Of course it is rational behavior on the part of NK. Every sovereign nation has the right and responsibility of self-defense.

The real question is why countries that are on the US's "list" are arming  up and strengthening their nuclear deterrent. The US claims that there is no rational reason for it since the US is not threatening anyone. These countries see it differently in light of US behavior post-WWII.

Consortium News
The Logic in North Korean ‘Madness’

Col. (ret.) Ann Wright, US Army Reserve, former US diplomat

TASS — Analyst believes China’s missiles near Russian borders targeted against US.

China has deployed inter-continental ballistic missiles near Russia with the aim to be able to reach targets in the United States, Canada and Europe, the president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, Doctor of Military Science Konstantin Sivkov, has said.

Earlier, the daily Global Times said China had deployed inter-continental ballistic missiles of its own design (DF-41) in northeastern Heilongjiang province bordering Russia....

"This is China’s response to threats pronounced by the new US president, Donald Trump. Also, Chinese missiles would be able to use a more advantageous northern strategic route for approaching targets in the United States, thus bypassing the US missile defense," Sivkov said.

The three-stage solid propellant ICBM DF-41 (Dongfeng-41, also known by its NATO reporting name CSS-X-10), was designed by China’s Academy of Rocket Motor Technology. It is presumably armed with a multiple warhead consisting of ten to twelve independently targetable reentry vehicles.... 

TASS
Analyst believes China’s missiles near Russian borders targeted against US.

Russia Beyond the Headlines — Largest exercise of Russian Strategic Missile Forces underway

Over 30 missile regiments are engaged in the ongoing exercises of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces in twelve regions of the country, Defense Ministry spokesman for the Strategic Missile Forces Col. Igor Yegorov told Interfax-AVN on Thursday. 

"Both road-mobile and silo-based missile systems are participating in the drill," Yegorov said. 

The exercises are in progress over a vast territory, from the Tver region in western Russia to the Irkutsk region in the east, he said. 

"Strategic missile units are practicing a broad range of missions, including red alert, maneuvering in actual combat and deterrence of sabotage units and precision-guidance attacks of a simulated enemy," the spokesman said.

At the ready.

Russia Beyond the Headlines
Largest exercise of Russian Strategic Missile Forces underway

Peter Schwarz — Leading German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung says Russia should be threatened with nuclear war

Topping John McCain, even discounting that this is being reported by WSWS?

One day before the crisis meeting on Ukraine in Minsk, a leading German newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), published an editorial calling for NATO to militarily escalate the confrontation with Russia to the point of a nuclear attack. 

The conservative newspaper appeared on Tuesday with a front-page commentary by its co-editor, Berthold Kohler, calling for a policy of “deterrence” against Russia up to the “highest level.” 

Kohler accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of shrinking “from delivering weapons to Kiev that could entangle the West in a proxy war,” even though Russian President Vladimir Putin was prepared “to escalate the dispute to the brink of a nuclear conflict.” 

“If the West maintains its view that the conflict ‘cannot be solved militarily,’” Kohler warned, “then, in the worst case, the Kremlin could allow its ‘separatists’ to march to Kiev.” 

He then posed the rhetorical question: “How can one deal with an aggressive and expansionist power that disregards the fundamental principles of peace in Europe?” The answer, he said, was “unpleasant but inevitable. Deterrence, all the way up to its highest level.” 

Kohler clearly had nuclear weapons in mind, writing: “Would Putin have dared to occupy Crimea if Ukraine also possessed nuclear weapons?” 

He left no doubt about his willingness to use such weapons. NATO had to make clear to the Kremlin, he wrote, “that any breach-of-area will be countered with a military response and the willingness of the West to go up the escalation ladder, in the worst case, even faster than the Russians.” 

Kohler complained that, “of course, no one in the West speaks openly” of such scenarios, because they contravene “the existing dogma of de-escalation.” 

This is the unadulterated voice of German imperialism, heard previously in World War I and World War II. The FAZ publisher is willing to contemplate and threaten a nuclear war that would cost billions of lives and very likely spell the end of human civilization. 

WSWS

Leading German newspaper says Russia should be threatened with nuclear war

Peter Schwarz

Zero Hedge — China Tests Nuclear ICBMs, US Analyst Warns "Arms Control Is Failing To Increase American Security"

China beefing up and hardening its nuclear deterrent, too. Calls are coming for the US to follow suit.

Zero Hedge
China Tests Nuclear ICBMs, US Analyst Warns "Arms Control Is Failing To Increase American Security"
Tyler Durden

RT — Russia’s military doctrine remains ‘solely defensive’ – Putin

Russia is hardening its defenses and extending them, and beefing up its nuclear deterrent.

RT
Russia’s military doctrine remains ‘solely defensive’ – Putin