Monroe, Kim Jong-un, Franco, and Rogen

  While a large majority of people disagree with their government, North Korea is considered a separate sphere of influence from the United States. This fact became irrelevant with the recent hacks on US soil by who is suspected to be North Korea.
 On November 24, 2014, Sony Pictures was hacked in what is being called, "one of the most debilitating hacks ever targeted at US corporate servers." The result was the theft of several unreleased films and employee information. While they are not entirely sure, North Korea is currently the leading suspect. This is due to the already existing anger towards the U.S. about the Sony film, The Interview. In the movie, popular actors James Franco and Seth Rogen are recruited to assassinate North Korea's controversial leader. "If it was North Korea, these attacks against Sony would indicate that foreign powers are going beyond the traditional information-stealing attacks to enforcing their own law against American companies via what we would consider cyber terrorism," former NSA researcher, Dave Aitel told Business Insider. These hacks are being called the first destructive computer network attack against the United States on US soil by the military. North Korea has been developing their hacking abilities on an internet completely cut off from the rest of the world, giving them leverage. The only question left now is how should the United States respond?
 The Monroe Doctrine was an annual address to Congress from President James Monroe, in which he stated his position on European and American affairs. Even though the internet wasn’t invented until over one hundred years after this address, it can still be applied to the hacks of Sony Pictures. The Doctrine states that, “It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our defense.” Because of this, the United State should be prepared to defend ourselves against North Korea. The underlying meaning of the Monroe Doctrine is essentially ‘you stay out of our business, and we’ll stay out of yours.’ North Korea failed to mind their own business; therefore it’s likely that the US will not be keeping up their end of the bargain either.
  The Monroe Doctrine was said hundreds of years ago, in a time without the internet and without the ability to hack. Even so, it still applies today in a time where no one can imagine living without smart phones and Wi-Fi.


Rosen, Armin. "The Sony Hack Is A Watershed If North Korea Was Involved." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 04 Dec. 2014. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.