Nautilus Peace and Security Weekly – 14 February 2013

Recommended Citation

Saleem Janjua – Climate Change Adaptation Contributor, "Nautilus Peace and Security Weekly – 14 February 2013", NAPSNet Weekly Report, February 14, 2013, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-weekly/nautilus-peace-and-security-weekly-14-february-2013/

CONTENTS

See this week’s blog: Developing-country organizations and climate change adaptation, from our Climate Change Adaptation contributor, Saleem Janjua.


DETERRENCE: Broad powers seen for Obama in cyberstrikes, David Sanger, Thom Shankar, New York Times (3 February 2013)

If a digital “911” is detected looming from abroad, the US president can order a pre-emptive strike with cyberweapons so powerful that, like nuclear weapons, only the president can order their use.  New rules will enable the US military to attack adversaries by injecting them with destructive code–even if there is no declared war.


DPRK: ISIS statement on North Korean nuclear test, David Albright and Andrea Stricker, Institute for Science and International Security (12 February 2013)

What to do about a North Korea motivated primarily by the paramount goals of domestic concerns and regime legitimacy? Apparently their goals also rest atop an ICBM and within a chunk of radioactive material meaning an appropriate response deals with security concerns as well as capabilities. China will change at the margins, but is unlikely to drastically drop support for North Korea until North Korea negatively impacts China’s core interests.


ENERGY SECURITY: Draft approval for new Indian nuclear site, World Nuclear News (28 January 2013)

A government noted for its crookery has a company – Engineers India – to dutifully craft a study claiming that a nuclear complex of six plants to be owned by another such company – National Nuclear Power – will be “environmentally benign and sustainable”. Of course, before a design has been selected, and ignoring many risks of fuel rupture along the fuel cycle; and, based only on 11 month data (perhaps 12 months were planned and an inconvenient month was ignored.) Elsewhere, people understand that overcoming the nuclear addiction carries a price, and is no answer to power shortages.


GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: S. Koreans ‘indifferent’ to N. Korean nuclear threat, Chosun Ilbo (8 February 2013)

The South Korean public is seemingly unconcerned with issues regarding the DPRK’s nuclear program even while becoming increasingly aware of the ROK’s domestic nuclear program. Numerous protests have been held against the ROK’s use of nuclear power at home but the DPRK nuclear threat seems to be viewed as an as issue between the US and DPRK only. ROK President-elect Park’s response to the DPRK’s nuclear test may set the tone for North-South relations.


CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Climate change adaptation: institutional approaches for developing countries, Peter Appiah Obeng and Joseph Boateng Agyenim (eds), Climate Change Governance, Climate Change Management, pp. 185-203 (2013)

The world is giving much attention to the development and use of sustainable energy options and industrial practices that would lead to cuts in greenhouse gas emission. This is expected to slow down, if not reverse, the rate at which the global environment is changing. Equal attention is being given (or perhaps should be given) to preparing the world to cope with the harm that climate change has already caused and is expected to cause. In this context, it is important to analyze the institutional development approaches that may be adopted to enhance the capacity of developing countries to adapt to the consequences of climate change.


Michel Gunther / WWF-CanonBLOG: Developing-country organizations and climate change adaptation

by Saleem Janjua – Climate Change Adaptation Contributor

Climate change adaptation is rising as a management priority for public and private …


CLIMATE CHANGE AND SECURITY: Climate extremes: recent trends with implications for national security, Michael McElroy and D. James Baker, Center for the Environment, Harvard University (October 2012) [PDF, 7.8MB]

Focusing on near-term impacts of climate change, the study funded by the CIA employed statistical analysis, physical understanding, and basic energy balance models to interpret the physics on a global scale, as well as historical temperature and precipitation data, together with a literature review on climate change, weather extremes, and links to climate drivers. “Lessons from the past are no longer of great value as a guide to the future.”


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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