[north korea] this is what we're dealing with

All round the world there is a demonstrable and measurable rise in the sabre-rattling from dictators of emerging nations gunning for respect. It is no accident. First look at the language in this statement: The U.N. Security Council agreed in unofficial working-level consultations on Wednesday to work out a chairman's statement urging North Korea not to conduct a nuclear test in line with a draft submitted by Japan, officials said. However, the member countries have failed to reach a final agreement on the draft, and are set to resume working-level talks on Thursday. Contrast that with this statement from the Baekdu Boy: "General Kim has declared that not even a tiny concession will be made to the imperialist US invaders, our arch-enemy," said a broadcast on North Korean state television. Kim, who never speaks himself in public, said that if the US took "revenge", it would mean "all-out war". "It is not empty talk for the DPRK [the Democratic People's Republic of Korea] to respond with revenge to any revenge by the enemy and with all-out war to an all-out war," the TV said. Fairly clear, one would think. And for what this rush to be tin gods in their respective regions? Or a better question: who is the catalyst of all this seemingly simultaneous global action? Maybe it's just total coincidence.