- DETERRENCE: Obama pledged to reduce nuclear arsenal, then came this weapon
- DPRK: Unprecedented nuclear strikes of the invincible army
- GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: China explosions: Tianjin residents hold protests
- AUSTRAL PEACE AND SECURITY: Turning back the clock on UNCLOS
Deterrence: Obama pledged to reduce nuclear arsenal, then came this weapon, Len Ackland, Burt Hubbard, Reveal News, Center for Investigative Reporting (14 July 2015)
The US is testing the modified B61, which is a smart 0.3-50 Kt thermonuclear bomb that has a tail kit enabling guided targeting. 400 B61-12s will be made after 2020 costing $348 billion+. The B61 descends from the Marshall Islands H-bomb test in 1952. The dial-a-bomb, GPS precision guided weapon may lower the use threshold.
- America readies its new ‘smart’ nuke, James Drew, War is Boring April 29, 2015,
- Tests with Sandia’s Davis gun aid B61-12 life extension effort, Sandia Labs News Releases (11 May 2015)
DPRK: Unprecedented nuclear strikes of the invincible army: A realistic assessment of North Korea’s operational nuclear capability, Peter Hayes and Scott Bruce, The Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability (22 September 2011)
Fortunately, the most recent inter-Korean dispute remained far from going critical which is to say all sides stayed well clear of invoking nuclear threats. Taken in conjunction with Ukraine, it should be clear that nuclear weapons have almost no utility even in tense times. North Korea’s nuclear doctrine is immature and evolving. The types of weapons and delivery methods will tell us what their doctrine CAN be and it is unlikely to look like anything we’ve seen even as it threatens North Korea’s economic integration.
- North Korea’s nuclear force roadmap, Peter Hayes and Roger Cavazos, The Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability (2 March 2015)
- North Korea’s evolving nuclear strategy, Shane Smith, 38 North (24 August 2015)
- North Korea: U.S. relations, nuclear diplomacy, and international situation, Emma Chanlett-Avery et al, Congressional Research Service (21 July 2015) [PDF, 500 kB]
GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: China explosions: Tianjin residents hold protests, BBC (17 August 2015)
The community and ecological impacts of a factory explosion in Tianjin are coming to the fore, as citizens continue to hold daily protests and the extent of corruption involved becomes clear. Nearby water sources are showing significantly higher levels of cyanide than recommended, with reports that this is already having a large impact on ecological systems.
- Cyanide levels in water near Tianjin explosion are 356 times higher than recommended levels, Associated Press (20 August 2015)
- China chemical safety problems highlighted before Tianjin blasts, Claire Baldwin, Brenda Goh and Sue-lin Wong, Reuters (23 August 2015)
AUSTRAL PEACE AND SECURITY: Turning back the clock on UNCLOS, Sam Bateman, The Strategist (20 August 2015)
Three separate events in the South China Sea global games. Firstly, whose islands, rocks and shoals? An event for the imaginative. Secondly, the ‘invention of territory’ by reclamation, an event for multiple participants. Thirdly, the United States v. UNCLOS, redux. And then, there is the regional arms race, a popular event for all levels of participants.
- Fact, fiction and the South China Sea, Bill Hayton, Asia Sentinel (25 May 2015)
- New round of China-bashing over the South China Sea, Mark Valencia, East Asia Forum (18 June 2015)
- Japan and US enclose Chinese coast within sensor net, Hamish McDonald, The Saturday Paper (18 April 2015)
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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- Editor: Arabella Imhoff
Contributors:
- Deterrence: Peter Hayes
- DPRK: Roger Cavazos
- Governance and Civil Society: Dyana Mardon
- Climate Change Adapation: Saleem Janjua
- Austral Peace and Security: Richard Tanter