I'd love to read your thoughts on the continuing belligerence of Kim Jong Il's regime. Is it mere saber-rattling or does it signal a real willingness to make war? Either way, what should be the response of the United States and its allies?

From the bleak, barracks country of N. Korea, where 1 of every 7 citizens is active-duty military and where many are starving for food and all are starved of information, has come a troubling surge in military provocation. Monday saw the successful test of a Hiroshima-size nuclear bomb. It was followed by the launch of two short-range missiles of the type able to reach Japan or S. Korea within minutes. The actions this week were followed by universal world condemnation, even by the North's sole ally, China, which has been reluctant to sanction the regime for fear of triggering a danagerous economic and social collapse.

In recent months, the regime has restarted its nuclear enrichment program; broken off six-party talks with the U.S., China, S. Korea, Japan and Russia; and declared the armistice that ended the Korean War "null and void."

What is the message behind the escalating threats issued by the North? And how should the world respond to the Earth's best-armed and most belligerent dictatorship?