CONTENTS
- DETERRENCE: Assessing the undersea balance between the U.S. and China
- DPRK: S. Korea, U.S. set for defense ministerial talks
- ENERGY SECURITY: China nuclear report acknowledges safety concerns
- GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: Doubts cast over Japan nuclear phase-out
- CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Informing climate adaptation: a review of the economic costs of natural disasters, their determinants, and risk reduction options
- CLIMATE CHANGE AND SECURITY: Integrating tipping points into climate impact assessments
See this week’s blog: Bridges to nowhere – promises, promises, from our Energy Secruity contributor, Nikhil Desai.
DETERRENCE: Assessing the undersea balance between the U.S. and China, Owen Cote, MIT Security Studies Program Working Paper (February 2011) [PDF, 240KB]
China plans to use diesel submarines for coastal defense, offensive mine warfare, and intelligence; and maybe nuclear submarines (SSNs) in the Philippine Sea. Its limited anti-submarine capacities focus on coastal defense and on the diesel submarine threat of regional adversaries rather than American SSNs.
- Future security environment challenges for the US Air Force and the US Navy, Owen Cote, Global Trends 2030 blog (26 June 2012)
- More on China’s perspective on the future security environment, Timothy Thomas, Global Trends 2030 Blog (28 June 2012)
- Chinese mine warfare: A PLA Navy ‘assassin’s mace’ capability, Andrew Erickson, Lyle Goldstein, William Murray, US Naval War College, China Maritime Study No. 3 (June 2009)
DPRK: S. Korea, U.S. set for defense ministerial talks, Lee Chi-dong, Yonhap News Agency (22 October 2012)
North Korea is on the agenda for the highest level defense talks between the US and Korea, the Security Consultative Meeting. North Korea displays mixed economic reform signals: simultaneously claiming to be open for business while shuttering Chinese businesses. There will be a positive environmental impact from closing pollution-intensive industries. North Korea threatened to repay propaganda leaflets with artillery.
- Chinese pull out of N. Korean mine, Chosun Ilbo (17 October 2012)
- N.Korea holds cabinet meeting to discuss economy, Kim Young-gyo, Yonhap News Agency (22 October 2012)
- S. Korea bans anti-Pyongyang flyers, Shenzhen Daily, Multimedia Digital Edition, (23 October 2012)
ENERGY SECURITY: China nuclear report acknowledges safety concerns, Brian Spegele and Wayne Ma, The Wall Street Journal [16 October 2012]
India cannot bring itself to an honest assessment of nuclear safety, economics, finance or emergency preparedness. US claims of safety – if not the economics – rely on not just blind trust in experts but on a history of institutional framework of checks and balances, credible fear of civil penalties and criminal proceedings, healthy debate and whistle-blower protection. All Indian establishment can do is issue promises and float new fantasies.
- The watchful eye of the NRC: How are US new build projects handling stringent regulation in one of the toughest financial markets? Peter Taberner, Nuclear Energy Insider [17 October 2012]
- Julia Gillard to demand assurance from India on uranium, Sid Maher, The Australian. [16 October 2012]
- Coming: Safe N-plants that cities can host, Kalyan Ray, Deccan Herald [19 October 2012]
Blog: Bridges to nowhere – promises, promises
by Nikhil Desai – Energy Security Contributor Some thought the moment to save the earth had passed in Copenhagen nearly three years ago. Phew!! What a relief!!!…
GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: Doubts cast over Japan nuclear phase-out, Jonathan Soble, Financial Times (23 October 2012)
The Noda administration’s decision to phase out nuclear power has been called “insincere politics”. Some criticize that nuclear power enabled the government to laud cleaner emissions without actually developing its renewable energy sector. Korea may be taking over the climate change reins from Japan and was selected to host the UN Green Climate Fund in Songdo City, which has set voluntary emissions targets and seeks to be a “green” model city.
- New priorities turn Kyoto goals into an afterthought, Washington Post (22 October 2012)
- ‘Songdo ready to become mecca of global green efforts’, Lee Sun-young, Korea Herald (4 October 2012)
- Stimulus programs fuel green concerns, Lan Lan, China Daily (25 September 2012)
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Informing climate adaptation: a review of the economic costs of natural disasters, their determinants, and risk reduction options, Carolyn Kousky, Resources for the Future (July 2012)
Estimating the full range of economic costs from natural disasters is difficult, both conceptually and practically. Complete and systematic data on disaster impacts are lacking, and most data sets are underestimates of all losses. The data suggest negative consequences of disasters, although communities tend to have a lot of resilience, recovering in the short- to medium-term from all but the most devastating events.
- Economic costs of extratropical storms under climate change: An application of FUND, Daiju Naritaa, Richard S. J. Tol, and David Anthoff, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, vol. 53, no. 3 (2010) [subscription required]
- Economic principles, issues, and research priorities in hazard loss estimation, Adam Rose, Department of Geography and Natural Hazards Research Center, The Pennsylvania State University (2004)
CLIMATE CHANGE AND SECURITY: Integrating tipping points into climate impact assessments, Timothy M. Lenton and Juan-Carlos Ciscar, Climatic Change (29 August 2012)
There is currently a huge gulf between natural scientists’ understanding of climate tipping points and economists’ representations of climate catastrophes in models. In particular, there are multiple potential tipping points and they are not all low probability events. For nine different tipping events, the range of expected physical climate impacts is summarised and suggestions are made for how they may translate into socio-economic impacts.
- Anticipating critical transitions, Marten Scheffer et al, Science, Vol. 338 no. 6105 (19 October 2012)
- Early Warning Signals Toolbox, Synergy Program for Analyzing Resilience and Critical transitionS
- Climate change, tipping elements and security, Kjeld Rasmussen and Thomas Birk, National Security and Human Health Implications of Climate Change, NATO Science for Peace and Security Series C: Environmental Security 2012
The Nautilus Peace and Security Weekly Report presents articles and full length reports each week in six categories: Austral security, nuclear deterrence, energy security, climate change and security, the DPRK, climate change adaptation and governance and civil society. Our team of contributors carefully select items that highlight the links between these themes and the three regions in which our offices are found—North America, Northeast Asia, and the Austral-Asia region. Each week, one of our authors also provides a short blog that explores these inter-relationships.
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Editor
Contributors
- Deterrence: Peter Hayes
- Governance and Civil Society: Dyana Mardon, Yi Kiho
- Climate Change Adaptation: Saleem Janjua
- DPRK: Roger Cavazos
- Energy Security: Nikhil Desai
- Climate Change and Security: Richard Tanter