- DETERRENCE: The U.S. nuclear deterrent: what are the requirements for a strong deterrent in an era of defense sequester?
- DPRK: Public ouster in North Korea unsettles China
- ENERGY SECURITY: Disaster risk reduction and sustainable development
- GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: South Korea targets 29 percent nuclear power reliance by 2035
- CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: PREPARE – barriers and enablers to organisational and sectoral adaptive capacity
DETERRENCE: The U.S. nuclear deterrent: what are the requirements for a strong deterrent in an era of defense sequester? Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, House Committee on Armed Services, p.13 (19 March 2013)
British admiral Jackie Fisher once said a lot of folks want to know how big the British Navy ought to be and what kind of ships we ought to have in it. He said the first thing you have to do is make up your mind how you are going to fight. He said, how many of us have made up our mind how we are going to fight? And then he said, how many of us even have minds?
- The end of overkill? Reassessing U.S. nuclear weapons policy, Benjamin Friedman, Christopher Preble, Matt Fay, Cato Institute (24 September 2013)
- Russia warns of nuclear response to US global strike program, Sergei Kazak, RIA Novosti (12 November 2013)
DPRK: Public ouster in North Korea unsettles China, Jane Perlez and Choe Sang-hun, The New York Times (9 December 2013)
In December 2014, the year of the Horse, North Korea finishes a three year mourning period; Kim Jong-un will fully don his “charismatic” mantle of leadership. To avoid buying the same horse twice, a look at 2013 is helpful. Diplomatically, North Korea wants to return to be recognized as a Nuclear Weapons State. North Korea announced 14 new Special Economic Zones. Militarily, North Korea exploded another nuclear device. Domestically, Kim Jong-un executed his number 2 who was also his uncle.
- Timeline of threat escalation on the Korean Peninsula, December 2012 to May 2013, National Committee on North Korea (16 December 2013)
- North Korea: U.S. Relations, nuclear diplomacy, and internal situation, Emma Chanlett-Avery, Congressional Research Service (13 September 2013) [PDF, 388 KB]
- North Korea’s nuclear test: Why now; next moves, David F. Von Hippel and Roger Cavazos, Global Energy Monitor Volume 1 Number 3, Hanyang University South Korea (10 December 2013) [PDF, 232 KB]
ENERGY SECURITY: Disaster risk reduction and sustainable development, Issue Brief, Integrated Research on Disaster Risk and International Council for Science, prepared for UN General Assembly Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, New York, 6-10 January 2014 (12 December 2013) [PDF, 713KB]
“Good management of today’s existing risks is clearly the starting point for facing tomorrow’s changed risks, whether from climate change, globalization or development. These three policy arenas share interests in monitoring changing risks, reducing exposure and vulnerability and advancing the transformation to resilience and sustainability.” True, but there is no ministry in charge of risks, and everybody has a pressing priority of their own, like fixing the carbon market or promoting fracking hell like hell to save the planet.
- EU approves rescue plan for carbon market, Sydney Morning Herald (11 December 2013)
- Fracking hell: what it’s really like to live next to a shale gas well, Suzanne Goldenberg, Guardian (13 December 2013)
GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: South Korea targets 29 percent nuclear power reliance by 2035, Heesu Lee, Bloomberg (10 December 2013)
Nuclear power is to account for 29 percent of the ROK’s power generation capacity in 2035, requiring an increase of 11 reactors, according to a draft of its second basic energy plan. Japan also plans to maintain its reliance on nuclear power, while some are concerned that the recent state secrets law will allow the government to keep information from the public, including on the safety of nuclear power.
- Reliance on nuclear power expected to rise, Hwangbo Yon, Hankyoreh (11 December 2013)
- State secrets law raises concern about safety of nuclear power plants, Asahi Shimbun (17 December 2013)
- Gov’t panel agrees on draft energy plan that supports nuclear power, Kyodo News International (14 December 2013)
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: PREPARE – barriers and enablers to organisational and sectoral adaptive capacity – qualitative study, David Ballard et al., Report for Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK (2013) [1.28 MB, PDF]
The prime conjectures related to organisational adaptive capacity are that (a) capacity builds up gradually, i.e. organisations start by being less useful but that their capacity enhances through various learning actions, and (b) the barriers that appear at initial steps of adaptive capacity building are dissimilar to those that affect when organisations intend to enhance their existing capacity. A third conjecture (c) is that barriers are not only technological in nature, but that a wide range of barriers need to be considered.
- Determining the barriers to improving adaptive capacity in UK organisations, David Ballard, Alexander Ballard Ltd, Berkshire, UK (2013)
- Initial assessment of the UK’s adaptive capacity for responding to the impacts of climate change, David Ballard, Doogie Black and Kate Lonsdale, Department for Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, UK (2013) [2.07 MB, PDF]
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.
Subscribe to NAPSNet to receive free weekly email reports
Editor
- Arabella Imhoff
Contributors
- Deterrence: Peter Hayes
- Governance and Civil Society: Dyana Mardon
- Climate Change Adaptation: Saleem Janjua
- DPRK: Roger Cavazos
- Energy Security: Nikhil Desai