*Map of The Week: North Korea in the Dark

March 26, 2016 

By George Friedman 

Is living in the dark North Korea's sacrifice for developing nuclear weapons, or does it demonstrate incapability? 

Dear Friend,

Geopolitics begins with maps and maps tell extraordinary stories. The map above is the Korean peninsula taken from space, showing ground illumination—lights. Notice the bright lights in South Korea, the sparser lighting in China. Then look at the darkness in North Korea. That map tells you more about the reality of North Korea than all the doctoral dissertations in the world. North Korea appears pre-electric. We have a nuclear power whose night is as dark as the Middle Ages.