Nautilus Peace and Security Weekly – 4 October 2012

Recommended Citation

"Nautilus Peace and Security Weekly – 4 October 2012", NAPSNet Weekly Report, October 04, 2012, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-weekly/nautilus-peace-and-security-weekly-4-october-2012/

CONTENTS

See this week’s blog: Nuclear -free New Zealand after Panetta comes calling, from our Austral Peace and Security contributor, Richard Tanter.


DETERRENCE:  The B61 bomb: A case study in costs and needs, Dana Priest, Washington Post (16 September 2012)

The B61 can be dropped from a B-2 bomber flying from Missouri to North Korea or China. The modernized B61 will have new batteries, neutron generators, and radar systems to signal when the bomb should detonate. New tail kits and special electronics will transform the B61 into the first precision-guided nuclear bomb.


DPRK: North and South Korea ‘on the verge of nuclear war’,  Ryall, Julian, The Telegraph (UK) (2 October 2012)

North Korea sent signals of isolation claiming the Peninsula was near thermonuclear war.  It’s unclear whether they meant US B61 bombs, were making wild claims to having a hydrogen bomb or engaging in bombast. North Korea blamed South Korea for creating tension in the Northern Limit Line area. Kim Kyong-hui prominent absence at the last North Korea Supreme People’s Assembly may impact Kim Jong Un’s hitherto smooth power consolidation.


ENERGY SECURITY: Just 50 months to tackle climate change, Letter to the Editor, The Guardian (UK) (1 October 2012)

If the Arctic melting is steady and irreversible in the near term, (i) the “natural” part of climate change is more significant than thought so far, or that most of the climate models vastly underestimated the human influence; (ii) the “integrated assessment models” are of little consequence and the climate protection argument for large, rapid deployment of high-cost zero-carbon energy technologies is weakened; and, (iii) “managing the unavoidable” – protecting human assets – takes paramount importance.


GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: East Asian territorial disputes being brought up at UN, Jeong Nam-ku and Park Min-hee, Hankyoreh (26 September 2012)

China, Japan and the ROK addressed ongoing territorial issues at the UN. Changing domestic power structures may affect the resolution of this issue: China expelled Bo Xilai from the CCP, seen perhaps as a shift back towards Maoist philosophies, while Japan’s Noda reshuffled his cabinet, bringing in a minister with strong China ties. Former Prime Minister Abe, known for his rightest policies, was elected leader of the opposition.


CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Resilience in practice, programme briefing paper, Susan Upton and Maggie Ibrahim, Practical Action (2012) [4.47 MB, PDF]

Operationalizing concepts of resilience is a challenge for many organizations. Vulnerability to Resilience (V2R) approach has been developed for identifying common characteristics and principles of resilience. V2R approach analyses the causes of vulnerability and how disaster risk reduction, climate change impacts, governance and livelihoods interact and affect resilient outcomes.


AUSTRAL PEACE AND SECURITY: New Zealand after Panetta: Australia’s prodigal brother, Robert Ayson, The Strategist, ASPI (25 September 2012)

New Zealand had been knocking on the door again with its contributions in various places, including Afghanistan. It actually suits John Key’s government to have New Zealand’s nuclear free stance stand in the way of a full resumption of ANZUS. An informal and incomplete alliance relationship with the US is much more compatible with good relations in Asia with a rising China. If this means that New Zealand doesn’t face some of the same expectations from Washington that Australia shoulders, even better.


Blog: Standing upright there: the New Zealand path to a nuclear-free world

Richard Tanter, NAPSNet Contributor

The New Zealand visit of US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to announce resumption of military and intelligence cooperation was a long overdue recognition…


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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