Tension has begun to increase yet again between the United States and North Korea with President Trump’s recent incendiary words.

President Trump improvised a threat to North Korea in terms of engaging in conflict in a press conference at his golf club, located in Bedminster, New Jersey. In the form of an ultimatum, the current president of the United States claims that if North Korea sent further threats to the United States, there will be retaliation in the form of “fire and fury.” Such volatile commentary is certainly a sign for violence in the horizon, but controversy has basically become the middle name of the presidency. But in an international context, words mean much more than the people of the United States have accustomed themselves to.

Politicians have attempted to reassure the American public, including statements from the current Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stating that Trump's claims were nothing to worry about. However, conflicting perspectives and opinions on the issue have also surfaced, with senators voicing their disapproval in different ways. They all seem to come to a unified conclusion, one that is evidently universal. This type of explosive rhetoric (pun intended) may well lead the United States to yet another unnecessary international conflict, with mass casualties looming in the foreseeable future.

However, war is not far from consideration to assume such an off-handed stance. Intelligence agencies have reported that North Korea has successfully managed to miniaturize a nuclear warhead enough to fit it on the tip of a ballistic missile. This raises immediate concerns about the missile having the capacity to reach the United States. However, the missiles do not yet have the capacity to maintain its form during the process of reentry, which presents at least one hurdle the North Koreans must overcome.

Such off-handed commentary is not foreign to us in the United States, as misogyny, racism, sexism, transphobia and other forms of rhetoric are normalized in governmental operations given the current administration. But we often pigeon-hole ourselves into the worldview of the United States exclusively, subconsciously viewing this country as a microcosm of the world. This often leads to linear thinking, as words that we have normalized seem to have no impact on us as it is what we expect. Subsequently, we forget the massive impact such words have to the rest of the world who are foreign to such controversial behavior.

Pigeon-holing seems to be a universal theme of this issue overall, as this metaphor applies to the serious ramifications of the words of the president, not only to the ones he has targeted, but also to those surrounding him as well. Countries such as Japan and South Korea have shown deep discomfort at the use of such words, which serves as further evidence that a lack of care in the words used in an attempt to deter may have the exact opposite effect. Such an effect would initially jeopardize the safety of Japan and South Korea due to geographical proximity first and foremost, if a war were to break out.

In fact, the opposite effect is exactly what is to be expected, as the intelligence report regarding the miniaturization of the nuclear warhead arrived a day after the statements made by President Trump. Now, despite this more than likely being a coincidence, there are also open signs of defiance from North Korea, as there have been no signs of intent to slow down the development of nuclear weapons.

Given the recent nature of the extreme restriction of trade with North Korea by China and Russia, a motion that was unanimously agreed to by the world leaders who are part of the United Nations council, has served as a mark of success for President Donald Trump. Labeled as Trump’s greatest diplomatic accomplishment, it comes to question why such bizarre and volatile comments would be made so soon after a deal was struck.

Criticizing Donald Trump’s rhetoric is beating a dead horse at this point, but analyzing the impacts of this context is extremely important, simply due to the sheer amount of influence this statement has regarding international politics. Anything in the field of international politics ought to be handled with caution, and such unpredictability could very easily bring about yet another conflict. It almost feels as if the world is regressing, with yet another arms race as Japan, South Korea and the US rapidly begin stocking up on nuclear weapons to match the might of one another.

Humans are meant to learn from history, but it only feels as if we are taking steps backwards to the brink of another world war.