The threat from within the United States, where distrust and political leanings are pitting Americans against one another, is scary enough. However, those concerns pale in comparison to the dangers we all face from the global arena.  

So, it was with great consternation that we read this morning’s competing headlines:

• Trump Ready to Tackle North Korea Alone

• North Korean Defector Tells Lester Holt ‘World Should be Ready’

The bravado, of course comes from President Trump, who warns that the United States will deal with North Korea’s nuclear threats, with or without China’s help. That sounds serious, until one wonders what it all means. Consider Trump’s long history of grandiose statements that lack substantive measures and offer few details. Add to these concerns, Trump's tendency to endorse nationalistic or isolationist strategies in an effort to somehow get our allies to ‘fall in line’. Never have the words of poet John Donne seemed truer - "No Man is an Island.” 

Now take North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, who is willing, if not enthusiastic, to go it alone. He appears hell-bent on developing and testing a growing arsenal of intercontinental missiles – while killing off his perceived enemies and detractors. A N. Korean defector describes Kim Jong Un as a “desperate" dictator who is prepared to use nuclear weapons to strike the United States and its allies. 

Events will unfold over time - although time does not appear to be one of our bargaining chips.