Guest Post by Loki

Kim Jong Il has finally died. And with his death the fatal flaw of all dictatorships is about to be played out on the world stage. A dictator whether good or bad is the lone leader of their country. And on their death a huge power vacuum is created. And politics does not allow a vacuum in leadership.

Kim Jong Un is taking over for his father. But he is an unproven leader. His father has bequeathed him the leadership role whether he is ready or not. He must prove his ruthlessness to maintain his power. This can prove very difficult. He has siblings. At least one sister who is also in a position of power may have her eye on the leadership role. Whether Un can maintain his tenuous grip of power or whether another family member forces their way to power will be decided very soon. And there is also the military. They hold no fealty to Un and some general may decide he is better than Un or the rest of the family.

So we have a dictator of a communist party about to try and prove his right to ascension with a probable military display while fighting for his control of the leadership from his siblings and the military. Things in North Korea could get very unstable and violent.

Then we have our own President Obama who while quite ready to take advantage of any crisis in America seems very tepid about doing the same against any communist country. Instead of taking advantage of a crisis I fear the crisis will be that he is taken advantage of and prove himself yet again inadequate for the job. Another defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.

Whatever the outcome it will be played out no matter whether our president decides to join the game or sits and complains about the difficulty of his job.