Nautilus Peace and Security Weekly – 18 October 2012

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Peter Hayes – Deterrence Contributor If we try to figure out what the post-2010 ROK “pro-active deterrence” concept articulated and pushed hard by former Blue House national security advisor Kim..., "Nautilus Peace and Security Weekly – 18 October 2012", NAPSNet Weekly Report, October 18, 2012, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-weekly/nautilus-peace-and-security-weekly-18-october-2012/

CONTENTS

See this week’s blog: South Korea Joins The Big Boy League, from our Deterrence contributor, Peter Hayes.

DETERRENCE:  An interview with Carl Kaysen, Marc Trachtenberg, David Rosenberg, Stephen Van Evera, MIT Security Studies Program (27 September 2010) [PDF, 0.6MB]

Do you remember the great Chinese war on India? It happened during the Cuban missile crisis?…I was the one who received the thirteen-page message from Nehru, the Indian prime minister, asking for the loan of B-52s [complete with nuclear weapons] so he could bomb China.

Blog: South Korea Joins The Big Boy League

by Peter Hayes – Deterrence Contributor If we try to figure out what the post-2010 ROK “pro-active deterrence” concept articulated and pushed hard by former Blue House national security advisor Kim…

DPRK: 2012 Global Hunger Index background facts and key findings, International Food Policy Research Institute (11 October 2012)

North Korea continues to experience shear forces: isolation, sanctions and deteriorating economic conditions resulting from their recalcitrant behavior; yet increasing exposure via news, trade fairs and other exchanges.  North Korea remains the only country outside Sub-Saharan Africa to experience more hunger in 2012 than in 1990.  Nuclear Fuel Cycle management offer a possible means of reducing shear through sharing in Northeast Asia.

ENERGY SECURITY: Tepco finally admits nuke crisis avoidable – Utility feared vital safety steps would hurt image, AP, Japan Times (14 October 2012)

Shame was not in the “Design Basis”. What Tepco Task Force “discovers” is simply that there was a culture of hubris, taking risks faithfully believed to not exist. At least, the nuclear industry in the US can reasonably claim that it developed, painfully and reluctantly, a culture of safety. US debates over the desirability of nuclear power or reactor types go on. The debate is missing in India, the land of knowledge-proof bureaucracies, geriatric infantilism of official “experts”, and unaccountable governance.

GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: Presidential hopefuls urge Asian détente, Kang Hyun-kyung, Korea Times (15 October 2012)

The leading candidates of the ROK ruling and opposition parties both called for a cool-down in regional tensions, particularly as territorial strains spill over to economic and civic ties. Japan and the ROK also agreed to put the economy over any territorial disputes. However, security tensions seem to be on the rise, as the ROK increases its missile range, the DPRK warns of new capabilities and Japan increases military ties with the US.

CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Drying up – what to do about droughts in the People’s Republic of China, Qingfeng Zhang et al., Asian Development Bank (2012) [2.65 MB, PDF]

In the People’s Republic of China (PRC) where climate change is resulting in more unpredictable weather patterns, including more droughts and floods, the regulating services are critical for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. An integrated approach is essential for creating reserves and enabling ecosystem services to function in drought situations.

  • Droughtscape, the Newsletter of the national drought mitigation centre (2012)
  • Drought in Asia and the Pacific, Liu Lian You Wu Wei, Regional implementation meeting for Asia and the Pacific for the CSD-16 (2007) [1.58 MB, PDF]

AUSTRAL PEACE AND SECURITY: China choice: Thai parallels for Australia, John Blaxland, The Strategist (15 October 2012)

Thailand faces a similar conundrum to Australia: its security ties are with the US while its trading ties are increasingly dependent on China. Thailand has a tradition of deftly handling competing great power aspirations. Thailand, like Australia, has a sufficiently diversified and large economy to be able to make its own decisions based on its own national interests. Thai practice might provide a yardstick for reflecting on options for Australia.

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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