APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, December 14, 2009

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APSNet 14 December 2009

  1. Nation given N-bomb warning
  2. Heat on China to break impasse at Copenhagen
  3. Poor nations threaten climate deal showdown at Copenhagen summit
  4. Indonesia climate green paper: towards carbon pricing, geothermal power and regional incentives
  5. Afghan promises to insurgents often empty
  6. Pakistan ends S Waziristan campaign
  7. Special Reports on nuclear non-proliferation

1. Nation given N-bomb warning, Christian Kerr, Australian, 2009-12-14

Australia may be forced to acquire nuclear weapons to tackle deteriorating Asian security, a government-funded defence think tank has warned. Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst Rod Lyons said a loss of confidence in US nuclear deterrence or the appearance of a new nuclear state in Asia could force Australia to take the nuclear arms option. The comments will embarrass Kevin Rudd ahead of the launch of the report from the international commission on nuclear disarmament during his visit to Japan this week.

2. Heat on China to break impasse at Copenhagen, Lenore Taylor, Australian, 2009-12-14

Australia has appealed to China to step up to the leadership role expected of a global superpower, as a standoff between the US and China deadlocked the Copenhagen climate change talks. The 48 environment ministers already in Copenhagen were meeting away from the conference centre to consider a political deal for two separate treaties. Kevin Rudd has been hitting the phones to try to secure a political-level deal, speaking with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and developing-nation leaders Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and PNG Prime Minister Michael Somare.

3. Poor nations threaten climate deal showdown at Copenhagen summit, John Vidal, Jonathan Watts and Suzanne Goldenberg, Guardian, 2009-12-13

Delegates hope for a deal that will ensure temperatures do not rise by more than 2C, and that hundreds of billions of pounds is pledged to help poor countries adapt to climate change. But it appeared that many did not want to risk being pressured into signing an agreement they believe would be against their national interests. “The industrialised countries want to hammer out a large part of the deal on the last day, when the heads of state arrive,” one senior African negotiator told the Guardian on the condition of anonymity. “It’s a ploy to slip through provisions that are not amenable to developing country efforts. It’s playing dirty.”

4. Indonesia climate green paper: towards carbon pricing, geothermal power and regional incentives, Frank Jotzo, ANU and Salim Mazouz, Ecoperspectives, East Asia Forum, 2009-12-09,

Indonesia is in Copenhagen with an announced target of reducing emissions by between 26 per cent and 41 per cent at 2020. Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance this week released a Green Paper on Economic and Fiscal Policy Strategies for Climate Change Mitigation in Indonesia. The Green Paper, developed by the Ministry of Finance’s Fiscal Policy Office in collaboration with an Australian team of experts, spells out a longer-term strategic framework for climate policy-making. It sets out concrete strategies for forestry and land use change which account for the bulk of Indonesia’s emissions now, as well as for the energy sector which is on a fast growth trajectory and in a few decades could take over all other emissions sources combined.

5. Afghan promises to insurgents often empty, Griff Witte, Washington Post, 2009-12-14

Lured by the government’s promise of a job, land for his family and an end to the misery of fighting, Mohammed’s decision to quit the insurgency illustrated the hope of top U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal for ultimately bringing about an end to the 8-year-old war. Programs to reintegrate former fighters into Afghan society, and perhaps even turn them against their brothers in the insurgency, are at the core of the Obama administration’s new strategy. Yet Mohammed’s experience offers a cautionary tale: Four months after he gave himself up, the Afghan government has reneged on all of its commitments, leaving him unemployed and his family of 10 with nowhere to live. Hunted by the Taliban and fearful of the U.S. military, he spends much of his time in hiding.

6. Pakistan ends S Waziristan campaign, Aljazeera, 2009-12-12

The Pakistani army has completed its offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan, but may soon pursue similar operations in other parts of the lawless tribal belt along the Afghan border, the country’s prime minister has said. “The operation has finished in South Waziristan, now there is a discussion of taking it to Orakzai agency,” Yusuf Raza Gilani said. Experts said that Gilani’s suggestion of an operation in Orakzai was an indication that Pakistan did not deal the death blow it had intended against the Pakistani Taliban by taking them on in their main base in South Waziristan.

7. Special Reports on nuclear non-proliferation, Nautilus Institute, December 2009

Nautilus Institute at RMIT released four Special Reports on nuclear non-proliferation.  These reports are drawn from a research workshop, organized with support from the Australia-Japan Foundation.

Nautilus Institute and affiliated information services

 For further information, please contact the APSNet editor, Arabella Imhoff.

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