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Latest Policy Briefs and Reports
Cooperative Security, Arms Control and Disarmament
The Nuclear Umbrella Revisited
Policy Brief No.98 - November, 2020 • By Sverre Lodgaard
On 21 September 2020, 56 former leaders of 22 umbrella states published an open letter in support of the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW or the Ban Treaty). The Treaty obliges member states to never, under any circumstance, assist or encourage use, threats of use or possession of nuclear weapons. The fact that so many leaders were ready to support such a radical departure so shortly after leaving government suggests that they had developed a certain restiveness and discomfort with the state of affairs during their time in office. Now, with the NPT in miserable shape and the TPNW about to come into force in January, it is hoped that the wrangling between the respective treaty supporters will calm down and enable a new consensus on the normative basis for non-proliferation and disarmament.
Climate Change, Relocation and Peacebuilding in Fiji: Challenges, Debates, and Ways Forward
Summary Report No.97 - November, 2020 • By Volker Boege and Ria Shibata
Climate change induced human mobility comes with considerable risks and responsibilities. This insight was the starting point for a recently held workshop on climate-change induced migration and community relocation in the Pacific Island country of Fiji. Climate change induced relocation is a highly complex ‘wicked problem.’ This Policy Brief identifies the key challenges and focuses on the most relevant findings and insights from the workshop—i.e., the need for a holistic and integrated multi-stakeholder and multi-scalar approach with the cooperation of state, civil society and community actors, and the need for an inclusive dialogue and communication between a plurality of narratives and voices to build trust. It concludes with lessons learned and policy recommendations. (The workshop ‘Comparative Learning: Climate Change, Relocation and Peacebuilding in Fiji’ was organised by Toda Peace Institute, Conciliation Resources and Transcend Oceania on 5-6 October 2020.)
Cooperative Security, Arms Control and Disarmament Peace and Security in Northeast Asia
A Practical Approach to North Korea for the Next US President
Policy Brief No.96 - October, 2020 • By Joseph Yun and Frank Aum2
After three years of an erratic approach to North Korea, the Trump administration has made little progress in reducing the nuclear threat and enhancing peace and security on the Korean Peninsula. The Kim Jong Un regime not only maintains its stockpile of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, but these capabilities have grown both quantitatively and qualitatively. The next US president will have to address this grave situation. This Policy Brief examines what might work and outlines four steps on a practical path to building a new framework for peace and security on the Korean Peninsula. This article was first published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: https://thebulletin.org/2020/10/a-practical-approach-to-north-korea-for-the-next-us-president/
Cooperative Security, Arms Control and Disarmament
Emerging Technologies Challenge International Humanitarian Law: Mapping the Issues
Policy Brief No.95 - October, 2020 • By Kimiaki Kawai
The shared understanding of the rules and the premise of International Humanitarian Law is challenged by the accelerated development of new military technologies. Is the existing IHL framework robust enough to protect civilians, combatants and the environment in the face of new military technologies? The judicial remedy of IHL is oriented to the past in the sense that its main task is to resolve cases that have already occurred. Therefore, it also tends to ex post relief, as is typical for paying “compensation” for damages. The challenge posed is to address the questions about what may happen in a risk society today. This paper addresses the question of how existing and emerging technologies impact IHL rules in order to consider how legal challenges posed will be responded to in the future.
Climate Change and Security: Perspectives from India
Policy Brief No.94 - October, 2020 • By Robert Mizo
While there is no empirical evidence yet to prove that climate change can cause conflict among and within states, there is an increasing agreement among scholars that it can aggravate existing security challenges. India’s future security in a changed climate scenario is uncertain. Tangible alteration in its climatic variables relating to temperature, sea level, and extreme weather phenomena will have far-reaching security implications. The paper seeks to analyse a range of challenges and investigate the state’s efforts to mainstream and factor in climate change within India’s larger security narrative. The paper concludes with key policy considerations to help make India better prepared to deal with the onslaught of climate change impacts before it is too late.