- DETERRENCE: Report of investigation (S8011P)
- DPRK: Kim Jong-un’s “Fresh Leap Forward” 2014 New Year speech
- ENERGY SECURITY: Freeze drives up US gas and power prices
- GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: Park advised to ease sanctions, engage North
- CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Global risks 2013: insight report
DETERRENCE: Report of investigation (S8011P), Maj Gen Michael J. Carey, Inspector General of US Air Force (October 2013) [PDF, 0.7MB]
Carey was commander of the US ICBM force for 15 months. On his trip to observe a Russian nuclear security exercise, At Zurich airport, he was visibly agitated, appeared drunk, and in the public area talked loudly about his command of the only operational nuclear force in the world and that he saves the world from war every day.
- Report: U.S. Air Force general drank too much, fraternized with foreign women in Moscow, Craig Whitlock, Washington Post (19 December 2013)
- Minds at war: nuclear reality and the inner conflicts of defense policymakers, Steven Kull, Basic Books, New York (1988)
- Dr. Strangelove: How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb (movie)
DPRK: Kim Jong-un’s “Fresh Leap Forward” 2014 New Year speech, Peter Hayes and Roger Cavazos, NAPSNet Special Report (2 January 2014)
In Kim Jong-un’s 2014 New Year’s speech, there were a few clues on North Korea’s emphases, beyond the normal Stakahankvoite exhortations. The calls for political unity were a little more striking than normal. Their emphasis on Juche or self-reliance decreased markedly, but there was not a concomitant rise in the emphasis on byungjin or simultaneous development on two fronts: nuclear weapons and the economy.
- New Year’s greetings from Kim Jong-un, Scott Snyder, Council on Foreign Relations (2 January 2014)
- A guide to Kim Jong Un’s 2014 New Years Speech, Ruediger Frank, 38 North (2 January 2014)
- Full Video: Kim Jong-un’s 2014 New Year Address, Korea Central Television Station (1 January 2014) [Chinese video server, Korean language audio, 24:50]
ENERGY SECURITY: Freeze drives up US gas and power prices, Gregory Meyer, Financial Times (6 January 2014)
Much of the US is caught in an “Arctic vortex” with record low temperatures beginning Sunday. FT reports that anticipating high gas and power demands for home use, spot prices for natural gas climbed to $90 per million Btus, over 600% increase over past week, and power spot prices in Texas reached over $5,000 per MWh, jumping 19,000% within hours. Utilities probably had enough coal stocks, spot coal cannot be moved that quickly, and the power surge won’t last more than a few days. Otherwise, in the US and over in Europe, coal is holding up well, and saving people if not the earth.
- The future of coal: despite gas boom, coal isn’t dead, John W. Miller and Rebecca Smith, Wall Street Journal (6 January 2014)
- Coal holds on while pieces of green puzzle come together, Mike Scott, Financial Times (1 December 2013)
GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: Park advised to ease sanctions, engage North, Joongang Ilbo (3 January 2014)
Some experts are advising ROK President Park to end the sanctions that have been imposed on the DPRK since 2010, arguing that the sanctions have not hurt the DPRK and have only encouraged its ties to China. Sanctions are also hindering Park’s “trustpolitik” DPRK strategy. Park has called potential reunification an economic “jackpot”, and many ROK citizens still feel that reunification is in the national interest.
- In first press conference, Pres. Park calls reunification “the jackpot”, Ha Eo-young, Hankyoreh (7 January 2014)
- S. Koreans have mixed feelings about reunification, Chosun Ilbo (2 January 2014)
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Global risks 2013: insight report, eighth edition, An initiative of the risk response network, World Economic Forum (2013) [10.8 MB, PDF]
In an ideal world, global risks should coincide with global responses. However, the fact is that countries and their population are on the forefront when they face systemic shocks and catastrophic happenings. In an increasingly inter-reliant and hyper-connected world, ‘one nation’s failure to address a global risk can have a ripple effect on others. Resilience to global risks – incorporating the ability to withstand, adapt and recover from shocks – is, therefore, becoming more critical’.
- Global risk data platform, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) (2013)
- Global risks 2012: insight report, seventh edition, An initiative of the risk response network, World Economic Forum (2013) [6.8 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.
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Editor
Contributors
- Deterrence: Peter Hayes
- Governance and Civil Society: Dyana Mardon
- Climate Change Adaptation: Saleem Janjua
- DPRK: Roger Cavazos
- Energy Security: Nikhil Desai