Jason Douglas was a mover, a shaker, and a star maker. He brought together seven girls whom he dubbed The Love Mechanism. The group was created to be world ambassadors of peace and harmony, wearing a universal smile and warming the world with love. It was all such a noble idea. In What Price the Carrot? author Sandra Sully writes about an all girls singing group that tours Europe and has gigs in the United States during the seventies. Through the character of Cynthia Maxwell – a social worker by day and a singer by night the reader experiences the challenges of show business, the joys and the pains and the loves found and lost. The group was truly unique! No one had seen anything like it! As they kicked the highest kicks and sang the most melodic tunes, each girl had her own dream of what she wanted this experience to bring. Curtains rose, cameras flashed, and there was the hope of fame and fortune, perhaps beyond measure––but at what cost?
This thesis evaluates three U.S. policy options for North Korean nuclear weapons: incentive-based diplomacy, coercive diplomacy, or military force. It analyzes them according to four criteria: the impact on North Korea's nuclear weapons, the impact on its neighbors (China, Japan, and South Korea), U.S. policy costs, and the precedent for future proliferation. This thesis shows that diplomacy will fail to achieve U.S. objectives for three reasons: lack of trust, DPRK reluctance to permit transparency, and the difficulty of conducting multilateral coercive diplomacy. Ultimately, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage's question must be answered: "What price is the United States willing to pay to disarm North Korean nuclear weapons?" If Washington is unwilling to back a threat of military force, it should not risk coercive diplomacy. Likewise, U.S. leaders may need to decide between maintaining the U.S.-ROK alliance and eliminating North Korean nuclear weapons.