The impossible state : North Korea, past and future / Victor Cha

Previous edition: 2013

"With a new chapter on the historic meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un"--Cover

Includes bibliographical references and index

Contradictions -- The best days -- All in the family -- Five bad decisions -- The worst place on Earth -- The logic of deterrence -- Complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement (CVID) -- Neighbors -- Approaching unification -- The end is near -- Unpredictable -- Epilogue: Whiplash

"In The Impossible State, seasoned international-policy expert and lauded scholar Victor Cha pulls back the curtain on provocative, isolationist North Korea, providing our best look yet at its history and the rise of the Kim family dynasty and the obsessive personality cult that empowers them. Cha illuminates the repressive regime's complex economy and culture, its appalling record of human rights abuses, and its belligerent relationship with the United States, and analyzes the regime's major security issues, from the seemingly endless war with its southern neighbor to its frightening nuclear ambitions, all in light of the destabilizing effects of Kim Jong-il's death and the transition of power to his unpredictable heir. Ultimately, this engaging written, authoritative, and highly accessible history warns of a regime that straddles war and peace, yet might be closer to its end than many might think, a political collapse for which America and its allies may be woefully unprepared."--Back cover