Guns, Guerillas, and The Great Leader: North Korea and the Third World By Benjamin R. Young. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2021. 218 pp. $28 (Paper), $90 (Cloth).

Abstract

This monograph is based on Benjamin R. Young ’ s 2018 doctoral dissertation and investigates “ North Korea ’ s place within the Third World ” (p. 1). This fits into a recent trend in Cold War studies that emphasizes small state agency. Through this lens, Young critically examines North Korea in a de-westernised way, by treating the country as an independent actor rather than a Soviet-Chinese puppet state. Young ’ s central argument is that Third Worldism, a form of socialist internation-alism which sought to dismantle western economic and political hegemony over post-colonial states (Nash, 2003, 95), formed an important part of North Korea ’ s foreign policy and national identity construction. This allowed Kim Il Sung to establish economic and political relationships with emerging postcolonial states, export his Juche ideology and personality cult, and bolster North Korea ’ s international recognition vis-à-vis South Korea.