Nautilus Peace and Security – 25 September

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"Nautilus Peace and Security – 25 September", NAPSNet Weekly Report, September 24, 2014, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-weekly/nautilus-peace-and-security-25-september/


UntitledDETERRENCE: (2nd LD) S. Korea, U.S. to form Combined Unit Next Year, Oh Seok-min, Yonhap, September 4, 2014

Yonhap reported that a combined forces unit from the 2nd Division and a ROK brigade will conduct strategic operations such as eliminating weapons of mass destruction. The ROK Ministry of Defense declined to confirm the same day. Lieber and Press outline why planning for decapitation, degrading its control systems, or attacking DPRK WMD sites are bad ideas.


PHL03_MLRS_2DPRK: The Passing of the Nuclear Torch: The Next Generation of WMD Scientists. Michael Madden, 38 North (22 September 2014).

North Korea may be conducting a minor opening up to the world, but found no welcoming audience.  Pairing new developments in missile technology that MAY (BIG IF) be nuclear capable with diplomacy is a tried and true trope leading to even more isolation.  North Korea is likely more dependent on China than before the diplomatic opening after finding no friends in Europe and not creating any increased diplomatic space.  China hints that North Korea may have been humbled enough to set the stage for a Kim visit to China, but Kim may not want to go under such conditions.


china-waste-2012GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: China sees week-long Protest against Chemical Plants, Lu Chen, Epoch Times (17 September 2014)

Residents in southern China continue to protest government plans regarding factories and chemical plants in their communities, citing environmental and pollution concerns, as public mistrust of government safety promises grows. Protesters are demonstrating in Cambodia against a dam project backed by China amid concerns that the dam would flood areas and displace local communities.


Image for 25-9-2014CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Using Social Representations Theory to Make Sense of Climate Change: What Scientists and Nonscientists in Australia Think, Gail Moloney et al., Ecology and Society, vol. 19, no. 3 (2014) [1.20 MB, PDF]

Despite the intangibility of climate change, people still need to make sense of it, not least because of its persistent presence in the media. “Disturbances of communication” between science, politics, and the media have come to define climate change as an issue, generating uncertainty within the public and hindering appropriate action to mitigate and respond to the risk.


CoalGraphic_05ENERGY SECURITY: On the way from Wyoming to China, Coal Exports meet Washington Bottleneck, Tom Curry, The Container, Blog at Roll Call (16 June 2014)

World coal trade has more than doubled since 2000, with China now the largest importer and Indonesia the largest exporter by far. US has apparently become a swing supplier because of large excess production capacity and distances from major importers. If logistics from US and Canada can be improved, North America coal can power China and India for decades.


flickr: Natasha Meyers

CLIMATE CHANGE AND SECURITY: Gardens of Eden or Hearts of Darkness? The genealogy of discourses on environmental insecurity and climate ars in Africa, Harry Verhoeven, Geopolitics (online 8 August 2014)

History counts. Climate change is complex, and its intersection with human agency in particular, more so. The Montreal Convention’s success in slowing ozone depletion marks the failure of climate politics. And the climate change – conflict focus on Africa is marked by the reinvention of imperial tropes that depoliticise and dehistoricise relations of power about Africa and its environment, neglecting both complexity and agency. Complex then, complex now – but always politically inflected.


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.


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