Nautilus Peace and Security Weekly – 28 March 2013

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"Nautilus Peace and Security Weekly – 28 March 2013", NAPSNet Weekly Report, March 28, 2013, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-weekly/nautilus-peace-and-security-weekly-28-march-2013/

 

See today’s Policy Forum: Learning Organisation Paradigm and Climate Adaptation, by Saleem Janjua, Climate Change Adaptation contributor


DETERRENCE: Nuclear weapons hide in pandora’s box as Scots seek to quit U.K., Peter Woodifield, Bloomberg.com (22 March 2013)

If Scots vote in 2014 for full sovereignty, then they may demand that 4 Trident submarines at Falsane and nuclear warheads at Coulport are removed.  Scottish leaders would stay in NATO upon independence, but only if nuclear weapons are removed forever. The UK government has no plans to relocate the weapons to France or the US.


DPRK: Are they “crying wolf” on the Korean Peninsula? No, Dong Jiaxiu, Beijing Times, (27 March 2013) [Chinese language]

Despite classic deterrence measures, it appears the stage is set for miscalculations and a high possibility of an escalatory spiral. China has clearly noted U.S. and South Korean military agreement on retaliation if North Korea strikes. North Korea will convene a plenary session before April.  The meeting was called to discuss “decisive changes in Juche”.


ENERGY SECURITY:  International index of energy security risk: assessing risk in a global energy market, Institute for 21st Century Energy, US Chamber of Commerce (2012) [PDF, 4MB]

Every country has energy supply insecurities. Definition of these insecurities and of options to mitigate risks are a political task with competing elite interests. Better contracting? By whom and under which law? Stronger military force projection combined with soft trade diplomacy of mutually assured damages?  Just who in particular bears what risks, though? Some 47% of developing country population depends on 19th Century fuels for lighting or cooking/heating. Who measures their risks and damages?


GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: S. Korea to delink humanitarian aid from N. Korea’s denuclearization actions, Yonhap (27 March 2013)

The Park Administration will pursue a three-stage “trust-building” policy with the DPRK, delinking humanitarian assistance from denuclearization, although military tensions remain high three years after the sinking of the ROK warship, Cheonan. A group of high-profile media and political figures in the ROK launched a new organization to initiate projects providing humanitarian aid and promoting cultural exchange with the DPRK.


CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Australia’s country towns 2050: What will a climate adapted settlement pattern look like, preliminary report, A. Beer et al., Centre for Housing, Urban and Regional Planning, University of Adelaide (2013)

The future of Australia’s country towns will be determined by their capacity to adapt, which in turn will be affected by their stock of community assets including social, economic, human and natural capital. Some locations will be more sensitive than others when exposed to climate change, one group of settlements will adapt well, while others maladapt or simply disappear. Therefore, we need to consider the structure and functioning of Australia’s country towns in the year 2050 in the face of on-going climate driven change.


CLIMATE CHANGE AND SECURITY: The secure and the damned, Nick Buxton and Ben Hayes, Red Pepper (March 2013)

The climate security discourse is predicated on winners and losers – the secure and the damned – and based on a vision of ‘security’ that envisages disposable people in place of the international solidarity required to face the future in a just and collaborative way. We must be prepared to reclaim the climate adaptation agenda from one based on acquisition through dispossession to one based on universal human rights and the dignity of all people.


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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