Nautilus Peace and Security Network – 23 July 2015

• DETERRENCE: Effort to overhaul nuclear missile system expected to begin this fall
• DPRK: Why do North Koreans even vote?
• GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: Debate over security bills masks clash of views on pacifist constitution
• CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: The Antalya report: Disaster risk reduction in a changing climate
• AUSTRAL PEACE AND SECURITY: Australia and Indonesia: time for a rethink?

DETERRENCE: Effort to overhaul nuclear missile system expected to begin this fall, Brian Everstine, Air Force Times (11 July 2015)

The USAF will spend $62 billion on its land-based single warhead missiles over 30 years. It has 450 Minuteman III now; to fall to 400 after 2018. It will upgrade the warhead, guidance systems, control systems, command centers and silos like Kimball Nebraska missile silo at: 41°21’46.0″N 103°39’38.0″W satellite view,  road view, and zoom view.

• 90th Missile Wing LGM-30 Minuteman Missile launch sites, Wikipedia
• Air Force missile sites to get Wi-Fi, Brian Everstine, Air Force Times (4 November 2014)
• New phones, computers for nuclear silos are years away, Jeff Schogol, Air Force Times (28 February 2015)
• The missile next door: The Minuteman in the American Heartland, Gretchen Heefner, Harvard University Press Podcast (2012)

DPRK: Why do North Koreans even vote? Tim Schwarz, Cable News Network (21 July 2015)

North Korea recently held the first local elections since Kim Jong-un became North Korea’s Supreme Leader. They happened on their normal four year cycle which indicates the political system remains in place and therefore it is unlikely there will be significant political or economic change anytime soon; only minor changes at the margins. North Korea rejects comparisons to Iran but the power of talk as an alternative to force can still be explored.

• Bill Richardson: 5 steps for engaging with North Korea, Governor Bill Richardson, Time (22 July 2015)
• Why is the Iran deal bad? Think North Korea, Max Boot, Los Angeles Times, (21 July 2015)
• A peek inside North Korea’s intranet, Martyn Williams, North Korea Tech (6 July 2015)

GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: Debate over security bills masks clash of views on pacifist constitution, Linda Sieg, Reuters (14 July 2015)

The passage of the Abe Administration’s proposed security bills in the Lower House this week was met with both criticism and welcome from regional neighbors. The bills remain highly unpopular with the Japanese public and the LDP has canceled planned public events on the subject for fear of worsening public image. The Defense Ministry will also begin providing direct funding to universities engaged in national security research.

• Universities to get Defense Ministry funding for ‘national security’ research, Hisatoshi Kobata, Asahi Shimbun (22 July 2015)
• Fear of jeers causes LDP to abandon street speeches on security legislation, Asahi Shimbun (18 July 2015)
• Defense white paper stresses threat posed by China, Masaaki Kameda, Japan Times (21 July 2015)

CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: The Antalya report: Disaster risk reduction in a changing climate – lessons learned about lessons learned, Michael H. Glantz, Arielle Tozier de la Poterie and Robert J. Ross (February 2015) [14.34 MB, PDF]

The Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Expert Forum 2015 took place in February 2015 in Antalya, Turkey. The key reasons for convening this Forum were to: enhance the existing effectiveness and efficiency of DRR programs; share technical and societal experiences among the DRR and CCA (climate change adaptation) programs; and raise awareness and concern about climate change and its consequences for extreme climate, water and weather events. This report includes proceedings from the Forum and the Antalya statement issued by the participants of the meeting.

• Climate change and disaster risk reduction, Briefing Note 01, International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (September 2008) [356 KB, PDF]
• Climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction and social protection, Mark Davies, Katy Oswald and Tom Mitchell, Promoting Pro-Poor Growth: Social Protection, OECD (2009) [355 KB, PDF]

Austral Peace and Security Network: Australia and Indonesia: time for a rethink? Allan Behm, The Strategist (1 July 2015)

Australia and Indonesia are again barely on speaking terms. Inconstancy, absurd mutual stereo-typing, and rabid domestic politics play their part, but so too does averting eyes from insecurity drivers that transcend borders and require transboundary dialogue and policy coordination. Ocean temperature rise, oil spill pollution, over-fishing, lead the local list. Indonesian pursuit of global reform on pollution from off-shore platforms is ignored by Australia. Meanwhile, a small but promising start on regional community-based “knowledge exchange as a tool for transboundary and coastal management”.

• After the spill: investigating the impact of Australia’s Montara oil disaster in Indonesia, Australian Lawyers Alliance (July 2015)
• Montara oil spill: Indonesia requests Australia’s cooperation on resolving dispute over impact on coastal communities’, ABC News (30 September 2014)
• Knowledge exchange as a tool for transboundary and coastal management of the Arafura and Timor Seas, Natasha Stacey, Johanna Karam, Micha Jackson, Rod Kennett, Tonny Wagey, Ocean & Coastal Management, Volume 114 (September 2015)