His overall outlook toward nuclear proliferation, he explained, has two prongs. No. 1, the problem with Iran and North Korea is "not really leader-specific. It is country-specific: a country feeling insecure. And if it sees that the people in the major leagues are relying on nuclear weapons, it will at the very least be tempted to do the same."
It is interesting to speculate how Iranians and North Koreans have managed to communicate to Mr. ElBaradei that they really want to use their precious resources on acquiring nuclear weapons, given "criminal justice" systems that include torture, amputation and stoning. Of course, Mr. ElBaradei brings to bear two personal perspectives on the subject of "country feelings." He hails from the Arab world, the least democratically inclined neighborhood on earth, and has a long professional career in the U.N., where one state-one vote masquerades for "international democracy" regardless of the Castros, Hu Jintaos or Mugabes casting the ballots.