Thank you for your kind message. I have just returned from an 11-day trip to North Korea where I donated the generous gifts in cash and kind donated by surfers of the Internet and others.

My time is consumed almost entirely by the activities to help the flood victims and my projects in Cambodia aimed at the reconstruction and rehabilitation of that country. Please forgive me if I am unable to respond to you on a matter not related to this humanitarian project. Good luck in your research on North Korea.

Best regards,

Bernard Krisher

>To whom it may concern: > > Hi, my name is Anand Parekh, and I am a college student at the >University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I recently read about the internet >campaign to assist North Korea because of the recent flooding in that >country. I found this very interesting because currently, I am involved >in a research project for an international security affairs class taught >by Dr. Raymond Tanter, a former staffmember of the National Security >Council. > > Basically, I am writing a paper on why the application of U.S. >deterrence policies against North Korea may have caused and be causing >the latter to be even more isolated and threatened. Thus, I am writing a >critique on classical deterrence's emphasis on rational actors. Using >prospect theory, a psychological theory that posits that deterrence is >likely to fail against risk averse countries, I want to show how North >Korea is trapped in a "basement of fear" and has turned to things such as >nuclear proliferation and the staunch defense of its ideology. I am >simply inferring as to why North Korea behaves that way it does. >

> I understand that deterrence is used to dissuade someone from > carrying out a proscribed action. I believe that by placing troops in >South Korea, also possibly nuclear weapons, and providing military and >economic assistance to S.K., the U.S. displays this "dissuasion." I think >the proscribed action in this case refers to North Korean desires to >legitimize itself, unify Korea, and extend communistic rule. >

> Due to your stature and your knowledge of foreing affairs, I was >basically wondering what your views were on this subject and how you feel > about the use of deterrence in the case of North Korea. I would appreciate >it if you could write back at your earliest convenience about this >matter. The next couple of days would be great. I would greatly >appreciate it. >

>Thank you. >

>Anand Parekh >701 E. University >Ann Arbor, MI 48109 >(313)-764-2671