North Korea and Iran: Alternative National Identities

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North Korea andIranAlternative National
Identities
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North Korea Totalitarianism

• A government type, possible only in the modern
  period, in which a government uses modern mass
  media and technology to exert unprecedented
  control over citizens lives. Government control
  with no limits.
• Different from authoritarianism, which allows for
  some private life. The states ideology is less
  pervasive in an authoritarian regime.

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North Korea Totalitarianism

• Korea was divided into Communist North Korea and
  democratic South Korea after WWII
• Korean War 1950s, North attempted to unite the
  two through war
• No official peace treaty was ever signed
• South Korea today is a successful democracy and,
  economically, an Asian Tiger

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North Korea Totalitarianism

• Led by the Kim family (Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il,
  and today, Kim Jong Un)
• Ideology of North Korea Juche, or
  Self-Reliance
• Huge amounts of government propaganda
• Nearly zero outside contact
• Militaristic stance (million-man army, nuclear
  weapons)
• About 200,000 North Korean citizens are in
  government-run gulags for political prisoners

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Iran Theocracy

• Rule by religious leaders
• Irans government is headed by an Ayatollah
  (Shia religious leader)

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1979 Revolution

• Iran Revolution occurred against the
  Western-supported Shah and in favor of
  traditional Islamic Shiite values
• Anti-American, Anti-Western (the CIA had
  overthrown a democratically elected government in
  Iran in the 1950s after he tried to nationalize
  Irans oil industries)

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Today

• Still a conservative theocracy
• Religious minorities are protected, but Shia
  Islam is the promoted religion
• Sharia law is used
• Attempting to create a nuclear weapon (this is
  all over the news right now b/c Israel might
  choose to strike before Iran goes nuclearIran
  says Israel doesnt have the right to exist.
  Subtle. ?)