NAPSNet 06 July 2011

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NAPSNet 06 July 2011

DPRK: DPRK Government spokesman warns Lee Myung Bak group of stern punishment, Korean News (28 June 2011)

A DPRK government statement threatened “unpredictably disastrous consequences” against the ROK for deploying anti-DPRK propaganda near the DMZ, calling it a “declaration of war.” Government statements are highly authoritative and exceedingly rare. The last North Korean government statement announced the DPRK’s withdrawal from the NPT. At talks on reopening the Mt. Kumgang tourism project, the DPRK said that they would not negotiate if ROK government officials were present.

DETERRENCE:  Is a nuclear-free East Asia possible? 6th Jeju forum panel report, Nautilus Institute (5 July 2011)

Will East Asia be nuclear free in 2077? Choi: “Yes, by that time, we will see a nuclear free NE Asia”. Kim: “I hope yes”. Abe: “Yes, because there will be better weapons at that time”. Evans: “Yes because I am a congenitally naïve optimist”. Pan: “Yes, the world is now getting consensus that nuclear weapons really have no value for the security of the world”.

AUSTRAL SECURITY: Neglect turns Southeast Asia into a major policy blind-spot, Australian (2 July 2011)

Australian foreign policy is widely accused of not paying adequate attention to its neighbours and treating, “foreign policy issues as though they were only domestic political matters.” The following report examines Australia’s strategic options in Asia and explores how Australia could broaden and deepen its engagement abroad through an effective aid policy.

ENERGY SECURITY:  Brown to green: a new use for blighted industrial sites, Yale Environment 360 (23 June 2011)

Dave Levitan writes that “brownfields” such as abandoned and contaminated industrial areas, old landfills, or decommissioned government facilities, are uncontroversial sites for development of solar photovoltaic and other renewable energy systems.  Projects on such sites create jobs, do not use virgin land, and help to reclaim blighted areas.  Government support for entrepreneurs is crucial to make projects successful.

CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Using high resolution satellite data for identification of urban natural risk, Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (2011) [2.70 MB, PDF]    

Uwe Deichmann et al. provide an overview of geographic technologies to support urban hazard risk assessment with an emphasis on very high resolution (VHR) imagery. They illustrate the concepts and techniques with a case study of Legazpi municipality in the Philippines. The report concludes with a brief discussion of institutional issues operationalizing a satellite data based risk assessment methodology.       

GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: Forced evictions are primary cause of social protests in China, Asia News (28 June, 2011)  

A survey conducted by the Centre for Research on Social Contradictions in China found that approximately 70 percent of respondents cited forced eviction and demolition of homes, inadequate compensation, and lack of transparency regarding how homes to be destroyed and compensation amounts are selected as the primary causes behind the high number of protests seen in 2010. The same week, the Chinese government passed a law prohibiting violent forced evictions except in the case of emergency, after 12 years of drafting.

 

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