Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP) Tokyo’s Post

Best invest in Building and talking about Fusion power, space, maritime propulsion systems and industry as data centres are. Great Headline, Guardian on Nuclear fission. https://lnkd.in/g8sMZtpR People talk about Nuclear (meaning Fission) and fail to discuss fusion. https://lnkd.in/ge_aeX7M The nuclear fission industry is ignorant of what's happening around it. It must pull its collective uranium heads out of the sand and prepare to enter the commercially growing fusion energy industry. Fission is moving towards obsolescence at an ever-increasing pace, as it is "out of step, out of time, out of place, and soon to be out of Fuel" and merely temporary. https://lnkd.in/gbd_mZqk By 2028, Helion is expected to start producing electricity from its first fusion commercial power plant, which will provide electricity to Microsoft. The plant will produce at least 50 MWe after an initial ramp-up period. https://lnkd.in/gY9J3MQY Now, see what is happening in the world of the fusion industry. https://lnkd.in/g9hMBD7a As fission trebles, fuel shortage is increasingly real, https://lnkd.in/gze5rwpr

Updates of Russia’s nuclear doctrine caused by West’s actions — Kremlin spokesman According to Dmitry Peskov, Russia is reviewing its approaches "against the backdrop of challenges and threats, prompted by countries of the so-called collective West" VLADIVOSTOK, September 4/ Destructive actions of the collective West have prompted Russia to update its nuclear doctrine, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday. In his words, Russia is reviewing its approaches "against the backdrop of challenges and threats, prompted by countries of the so-called collective West." "This nuclear doctrine update is necessitated by the current agenda and the state of affairs that apparently emerged as a result of the West’s actions," Peskov said. Among these actions, the spokesman named "rejecting dialogue," and "pursuing the policy of infringing upon Russia’s interests and security," as well as inciting the conflict in Ukraine. In Peskov’s words, such actions cannot be left unanswered "All of this is taken into account in Moscow, all of this is being analyzed and will lay the foundation for proposals [regarding the nuclear doctrine] that will be shaped," he said. #business #finance #financialservices

I'm thrilled to have a new article out at Journal of Peace and Nuclear Disarmament with LSE PhD student, Woohyeok Seo! With data from public opinion surveys in South Korea, Japan, Australia, Taiwan, and Indonesia, assess regional interest in nuclear proliferation. We find majority support for developing nuclear weapons in South Korea, Taiwan, and Indonesia. In Australia and Japan, opposition to nuclear proliferation remains strong. In addition, we find skepticism of U.S. redeployment of nuclear weapons to the region, even in South Korea. Read more about the changing nuclear landscape in the Indo-Pacific here: https://lnkd.in/eGzi7jVR.

With a salute from the Horizon, we welcome Samuel Dempsey and "Nuclear Talk Versus Nuclear Walk: Russia’s Nuclear Strategy"! "Russian President Vladimir #putin's recent reiteration of the #possibility of #russian #nuclearweapon #deployment has intensified concerns, particularly in the context of the ongoing #conflict resulting from #russia's full-scale #invasion of #ukraine over two years ago and the #west’s sustained support in question. This article aims to comprehensively analyse Russia's #nuclearthreat by examining it through #rhetorical, #discoursal, #strategic, and #legalistic lenses. Central to Russia's #nuclearstrategy is its #narrative #construction, which serves to #blackmail #adversaries, induce #strategicparalysis, and grant #moscow a degree of #impunity in its #actions. In response to this #challenge, the #NATO #alliance must #deconstruct these narratives and #recalibrate its #strategy in #support of Ukraine, reducing its #susceptibility to the guise of Russian #nuclearescalation." Severin Pleyer Franz-Stefan Gady Gustav Gressel, PhD Roger Näbig Juergen Schlechter #TDHJ https://lnkd.in/d7TvmNku

From turnover in the Chinese Rocket Force to political turmoil in Pakistan, instability in Asia once again raises the specter of nuclear confrontation. Writing in the recent print issue of the Journal, "Insecurities: The 75th Anniversary Issue, 1947-2022," Rajesh Basrur, a Senior Research Associate at the National University of Singapore, examines two nuclear dyads—one involving India and China, the other India and Pakistan—and generates a framework for analyzing these relationships. His conclusions suggest that while nuclear capabilities should render arms competitions, alliances, and even war itself non-viable, nuclear states nevertheless engage in these anyway, with important implications for bridging gaps between International Relations theory and practice. Read the full argument here: https://lnkd.in/eJVtamsG

New Policy Roundtable on Ukraine and Nuclear Weapons. https://lnkd.in/ehWm5ziJ  Contents “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose: The Old Lessons about Nuclear Weapons being Re-Observed in Ukraine” by Mark S. Bell, University of Minnesota. 2 “Old Lessons for a New Rivalry” by Henrik Stålhane Hiim, The Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies 10 “The Great Deterrence Rethink: On Nuclear Weapons Use in the Russia-Ukraine War, the Operative Phrase is ‘Not Yet’” by Amy J. Nelson, The Brookings Institution. “To Be or Not To Be? This Is... the Strategy” by Polina Sinovets, Odesa Center for Nonproliferation. 17 Response by Mark S. Bell, University of Minnesota. 20 Thanks to Mark S. Bell, Henrik Stålhane Hiim, Amy J. Nelson, and Polina Sinovets!

Analysis: Iran’s Aggression and Nuclear Advancements: A Shift in Global Power Dynamics https://lnkd.in/dgicbhs3 In a significant shift in global power dynamics, Iran’s renewed aggression and nuclear advancements pose fresh challenges to Western nations. The country’s recent actions have not only unsettled the Biden administration but also signaled a new era of strengthening alliances with Russia and China.

Should Japan continue on the idealistic path that was possible only because of America’s protections? Or should it accept the reality of a profoundly altered global situation in which they can rely on no one but themselves? Even the most hopeful and pacifist among the Japanese may realize that there is only one answer to these questions. Japan must develop nuclear weapons.

The world has many big problems to deal with and they are all important. We should not forget about nuclear weapons. They seem to have slipped off the radar. They shouldn't. The administrative bizarreness of both Russia and the US - looking on average (and standard deviation) across various administrations in the latter - has never perhaps looked quite as zany and insecure and vulnerable to uncontrolled escalations as both have done in the past decade. The conflicts going on in the world today mean that the willingness of either of them to be seen to start negotiations on this topic is probably decreasing, not increasing. That means the role of the international community in applying pressure to both of them probably needs to increase if there is to be any movement. Between those two they have over 11 000 nuclear weapons. The controls over each one of those weapons just in those two countries - if we imagine they are 100% watertight - we probably fool ourselves. The probability of things happening by accident is not zero. The sophistication and complexity of automated systems these days, does not decrease that. The arsenals of China, France, UK, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea are perhaps less vulnerable to the possibility of triggering a massive conflagration by accident, but not impossibly so. The less of these things there are the better. Wherever we are personally on what number of them we should be aiming for ultimately, we don't need over 12500 of them. It's not an easy question to address that, given the conflicts of ideals and ambitions and fears that have never gone away, and a whole swathe of new battles for new controls that are emerging. But it's not one we should ignore. We don't need that many of them. Ideally zero would be good, but let's focus imminently on the easier target - less of them.

This talk by Blinken is worth watching. You can find it on YouTube by looking for the Aspen Security Forum. But, if you are for defending democracies, you should be alarmed by Blinken's comments. He is advocating for more of the same, i.e., sanctions. Given that just this past 12 months, Iran has: Ignored sanctions intended to curb its nuclear weapons development program. Attacked Israel in Apr 2024 with 300 missiles and drones. Provided weapons to Hamas that were used against Israel. Provided weapons to the Houtis that were used against Israel. Helped Hamas carry out its raid on Israel in 2023. And was accused of plotting to assassinate Donald Trump. Never mind all the human rights abuses and terrorist support it provides elsewhere. We can not permit this rogue nation to have nuclear weapons. You can hear about the history of Iran, its foreign policies, and what Western leaders are doing about Iran's drive to attain nuclear weapons by heading over to the Spartan Spirit podcast, episode 32, on all the usual podcast host sites, or here - https://lnkd.in/giNrfbit In particular, John Bolton's comments are covered at length because he is one of the few Western leaders advocating for more than just sanctions. (he was the US National Security Advisor under the Trump administration, from 2018-2019).