Nautilus Peace and Security Weekly – 24 January 2013

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Nikhil Desai – Energy Security Contributor Last week’s NAPSNet weekly report mentioned the disease toll of household cooking with unprocessed solid fuels in the developing countries…, "Nautilus Peace and Security Weekly – 24 January 2013", NAPSNet Weekly Report, January 24, 2013, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-weekly/nautilus-peace-and-security-weekly-24-january-2013/

CONTENTS

See this week’s blog: Whose earth? from our Energy Security contributor, Nikhil Desai.

DETERRENCE:  Concept Paper, ASEAN Regional Forum, 2013 Nonproliferation Nuclear Forensics (2013) [PDF, 25KB]

Large transshipment hubs and nuclear power in Asia could lead to illicit nuclear materials smuggling. A follow-on to the 2011 ASEAN workshop on nuclear forensics is proposed for 2013.  The aim is to build a regional community of nuclear forensic experts and laboratories, to establish communication channels and common procedures. But is it funded?

DPRK: Security Council condemns use of ballistic missile technology in launch, Department of Public Information, United Nations (22 January 2013)

China allowed the United Nations to mete out edentulous United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2087 as a consequence of North Korea’s missile test in December 2012.  Given few non-kinetic responses, this was about as strong a reaction as could be hoped for.  A predictably “outraged” North Korea responded by declaring China’s cherished 6 Party Talks dead. There is a high probability North Korea will test a nuclear device in 2013.

ENERGY SECURITY: Speech gives climate goals center stage, Richard Stevenson and John W. Broder, The New York Times (21 January 2013)

Obama has a new war -“We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.” NOAA scientists say the record indicates “a longer-term trend of hotter, drier and potentially more extreme weather” in the US, and a draft US National Climate Assessment declares “a 1.8-degree Fahrenheit rise in temperature could boost the number of premature deaths by 1,000 annually because of worse smog and fine particle pollution.” IPCC authors get together to blame GHG emissions, bemoan lack of action. A new consensus emerges on black carbon’s strong role in climate change. Whose children will be betrayed – current or future generations’?

Blog imageBlog: Whose earth?

by Nikhil Desai – Energy Security Contributor Last week’s NAPSNet weekly report mentioned the disease toll of household cooking with unprocessed solid fuels in the developing countries…

GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: Park Geun-hye talks NK nukes with US delegation, Song Chae Kyung-hwa and Park Byong-su, Hankyoreh (17 January 2013)

President-elect Park affirmed that the ROK would respond with “resolute action” if the DPRK continues its nuclear weapons development, but stressed that the “possibility of dialogue” must be kept open in a meeting with US delegates. The DPRK seems interested in a proposed summit with the ROK. This, however, comes as Park releases plans to create an Office of National Security to deal with DPRK threats and the UNSC places new sanctions on the DPRK.

CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Water supply risks and urban responses under a changing climate: A case study of Hong Kong, Liang Yang, Chunxiao Zhang, Grace W. Ngaruiya, Pacific Geographies, vol. 39 (January-February 2013) [4.87 MB, PDF]

Hong Kong is a city with sufficient average precipitation, but it still suffers from water shortage because of natural and social conditions. Most of the drinking water is supplied through Dongjiang-Shenzhen project, sustained by political and economic power in a water supply agreement. However, should conditions change, like a severe drought or pollution in the Dongjiang River basin, it could become a potential social security problem.

AUSTRAL PEACE AND SECURITY: PM looks to East Asia, digital threat, in new security strategy, Paul Maley, The Australian (23 January 2013)

Julia Gillard has waved goodbye to the so-called “9/11 decade”, heralding a new age of cyber espionage and great-power conflict. The Prime Minister’s national security address has two key points: the most serious national security will be state-on-state conflict. Secondly, this threat must be managed on a smaller budget. The halcyon days of the last decade, where national security spending trebled on the back of government balance sheets awash with money, are over.

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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