Daily Report Archives
Established in December 1993, the Nautilus Institute’s *N*ortheast *A*sia *P*eace and *S*ecurity *N*etwork (NAPSNet) Daily Report served thousands of readers in more than forty countries, including policy makers, diplomats, aid organizations, scholars, donors, activists, students, and journalists.
The NAPSNet Daily Report aimed to serve a community of practitioners engaged in solving the complex security and sustainability issues in the region, especially those posed by the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program and the threat of nuclear war in the region. It was distributed by email rom 1993-1997, and went on-line in December 1997, which is when the archive on this site begins. The format at that time can be seen here.
However, for multiple reasons—the rise of instantaneous news services, the evolution of the North Korea and nuclear issues, the increasing demand for specialized and synthetic analysis of these and related issues, and the decline in donor support for NAPSNet—the Institute stopped producing the Daily Report news summary service as of December 17, 2010.
Jeffrey Lewis argues that US allies such as Japan have been mislead by the manner in which past administrations have sought to emphasize the strength of their extended deterrence commitments by reference to particular weapons systems in that role. Lewis writes that “there is no specific commitment to use any of those nuclear weapons in defense of Japan – or any other ally.”
Rather, Lewis states, “it is time to be honest that the primary source of nuclear deterrence for US allies comes from the strategic triad of intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine launched ballistic missiles and bombers.” He concludes that “US nuclear weapons continue to play role, albeit a declining one, in meeting US security commitments. The US is committed to defending Japan, but the use of nuclear weapons neither necessary nor desirable in the current strategic environment.”
Jeffrey Lewis is an Adjunct Professor and Director of the East Asia Non-Proliferation Program at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.
A version of this report was originally presented at the East Asia Nuclear Security workshop held on November 11, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan.
Go to the article
South Korea’s Long Bow
by Peter Hayes, NAPSNet Contributor
South Korea has long tried to obtain medium-range ballistic missiles. Today, conservatives in the ROK are outraged that the United States is not inclined to enable the ROK to obtain medium-range delivery systems……
Go to the article
Jon Mitchell states that “six months prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis…a parallel drama played out on the other side of the world as the U.S. secretly brought near-identical missiles to the ones the Russians stationed on Cuba to another small island — Okinawa. While the full facts of that deployment have never been officially disclosed, now for the first time three of the U.S. Air Force’s nuclear pioneers have broken the silence about Okinawa’s secret missiles, life within the bunkers and a military miscalculation of apocalyptic proportions — the targeting of unaligned China at a time when China-Soviet polemics were in full public view.”
Jon Mitchell is a Welsh-born writer based in Yokohama and represented by Curtis Brown Ltd., New York. He teaches at Tokyo Institute of Technology and is an Asia-Pacific Journal associate.
Go to the article
Powerlessness – at the top and the bottom of the pyramid: Part I.
by Nikhil Desai, NAPSNet Contributor
Washington, DC area had an extreme climatic event June 29 night. On cue, reporters and editorials began arguing whether this was due to anthropogenic climate change….
Go to the article
This 1965 report, commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert MacNamara, was directed “to determine optimum characteristics and employment of MMRBM-type weapon systems for maximum effectiveness in the Pacific Theater… [and] define optimum and alternative weapon system characteristics, operational concepts, force sizes, deployment schemes and development schedules and costs.” The report concludes that “the Flexible Theater Missile provides the optimum capability to satisfy both the political and military requirements. If political considerations dictate an early deterrent and show of force, the A-1 missile system could be used as an interim capability.”
This report was released to the Nautilus Institute under the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Go to the article
New Line of East Asia: Can Japan return to Asia?
by —Yi Kiho – Governance and Civil Society Contributor
Japanese Prime Minister Noda confirmed that the central government will purchase the Senkaku islands…
Go to the article
In this report, prepared for the United States Army Command and General Staff College in 1980, James M. Simpson analyzes the differences between South Korean and U.S. Army tactics. The report considers historical, social, psychological and physical influences on conventional attack operations, defense tactics, “special” operations and unconventional warfare tactics. The report also examines the degree to which differing tactics pose problems to combined operations and provides recommendations to resolve them.
The report states that “one weakness in the American forces’ relations with the Republic of Korea (R.O.K.) Army over the past several decades has been an assumption that the Koreans have patterned themselves after the Americans. Although the Korean Army has patterned many of its tactical concepts after the American tactics … they are independent thinkers and have developed a form of fighting which is consistent with the Korean personality, terrain and perceived threat.”
This report was released to the Nautilus Institute under the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Go to the article
