Everybody’s favorite international non-conformist is at it again. Recently North Korea announced it is taking a more aggressive approach to foreign policy by continuing to test nuclear weapons and long range rockets as part of its action against “the sworn enemy of the Korean people.” This is hardly newsworthy, as it has happened numerous times since North Korea’s withdrawal from the Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 2003.

So what is the U.S. to do? Ideally, absolutely nothing.

If countries were celebrities, North Korea would be 2010 Charlie Sheen — dysfunctional, delusional and really interesting to follow. North Korea’s repressive communist government and its complete control of information more often finds itself the butt of jokes than in serious conversations, and rightly so.

The country is not sustainable. North Korea relies heavily on foreign food aid from several countries, including China, its closest ally, and for no good reason, the U.S.

Past negotiations for food and other forms of aid from the U.S. have worked as an extortion racket. North Korea promises to stop developing nuclear weapons and the U.S. gives aid as an incentive. Then, North Korea resumes developing nuclear weapons and the process starts over again. Extortion is usually the powerful extorting money from the weak, but thanks to leadership in Washington, North Korea is somehow extorting us.

The U.S. must realize North Korea is absolutely nonthreatening. If the U.S. could go toe to toe with the Soviet Union, a country with thousands of nuclear weapons, we shouldn’t be scared of a country that possesses maybe two.

There isn’t a reason to provide North Korea with aid, no reason what so ever. Giving aid to third world countries only helps legitimize oppressive governments. More often than not, dictators use food aid to control their people rather than to feed them.

However, North Korea is by no means wrong to develop nuclear weapons. In fact, given the ever-present involvement of the U.S. with countries without nuclear weapons, I’d say it’s a smart move. For the most part, countries with nuclear capabilities tend to be left free of unwanted U.S. military involvement. After seeing what happened to Iraq, it is only natural countries like Iran are looking to develop nuclear weapons.

The U.S. needs to respect North Korea’s sovereignty. It is a country’s right to develop weapons it feels are required to maintain sovereignty against foreign threats. At the same time, we need to stop sending aid, which only serves to legitimize Kim Jong-un’s tyrannical regime.

In other words, foreign policy is a lot better and cheaper when you just do nothing.