The Importance of Status: The US–ROK Alliance Cohesion and the First Korean Nuclear Crisis, 1993–94

The US–ROK alliance during the First Korean Nuclear Crisis provides the most likely case of high alliance cohesion. Curiously, however, instead of dancing to the American tune in their joint management of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) threat, the Republic of Korea (ROK) caused frequent policy collisions – supporting the US–DPRK negotiations at one point and opposing it at another – at the risk of jeopardizing its physical security. The main finding here is that the variations in the South Korean behavior were a function of their experience of status inconsistency. In particular, the ROK became compliant with the US–DPRK talks when it believed that its desired status marker of taking the leadership role in crisis management was within reach, and unyielding otherwise. These fluctuations ended up not only eroding the US–ROK alliance cohesion but also inhibiting a successful resolution of the crisis. All this bears directly on the fundamental question of whether international politics is to be understood in essentially realist terms.     

Atomic structures: the architecture of nuclear nationalism in India and Pakistan

Abstract

A half-century after their completion, India’s Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) stand out as unchallenged architectural advertisements for ‘nuclear nationalism’. Elsewhere, Atoms for Peace reactors made no pretence to architectural refinement. In the right hands, however, ‘Cold War Modern’ could express the hard power of the nuclear age. For India and Pakistan, these nuclear laboratory complexes became the public faces of the peaceful atom that held out the promise, and masked the peril, of the atomic age at home and abroad, and deliberately deflected attention away from clandestine nuclear weapons programmes. BARC and PINSTECH, envisioned as cornerstones for self-confident and self-reliant programmes of nuclear physics, embodied the paradox of postcolonial science, necessarily borrowing from the West but determined to break the cycle of dependency, in defiance of Western expectations.     

Degrees of Engagement: Using Cultural Worldviews to Explain Variations in Public Preferences for Engagement in the Policy Process

Scholars have been studying the concept of public engagement and its role in the policy process for some time. Scholars have argued that understanding the interests and motivations of the public and engaging them in the decision‐making process can lead to better policy designs and, ultimately, better policy outcomes. However, studies of public engagement often assume that people have a desire to get involved in the policy process. This paper tests this key assumption using the case of nuclear facility siting in the United States to ask: what factors influence an individual's stated willingness to want to engage in the policy process? Using data from a national web survey fielded in 2013, we ask the public if and to what extent they would likely engage in the siting process if given the opportunity. Findings indicate that the likelihood of engagement varies rather substantially across individuals. We find that an individual's cultural belief system and existing level of political activity account for some of this variation. These findings suggest that public engagement programs may vary across groups and communities. In other words, the prospects of engagement are likely to appeal to some members of the population and not others.     

The Unflinching Mr. Smith and the Nuclear Age**

This article focuses on the U.S. diplomat and nuclear arms control negotiator Gerald (Gerry) Coat Smith in order to cast new light on the importance of diplomats in the context of the set of international activities currently labelled as “science diplomacy.” Smith, a lawyer by training, was a key negotiator in many international agreements on post-WW2 atomic energy projects, from those on uranium prospecting and mining, to reactors technologies to later ones on non-proliferation and disarmament. His career in science (nuclear) diplomacy also epitomized the shortcomings of efforts to align other countries’ posture on nuclear affairs to U.S. wishes. In particular, the unswerving diplomat increasingly understood that strong-arm tactics to dissuade other countries from acquiring nuclear weapons would not limit proliferation. Not only did this inform later U.S. diplomacy approaches, but it lent itself to the ascendancy of the new notion of “soft power” as critical to the re-definition of international affairs.     

Institutions,informality, and influence: explaining nuclear cooperation in the Australia-US alliance

ABSTRACT

Nuclear cooperation has been a consistent feature of the Australia-US alliance. In the 1950s and 1960s, Canberra explored transferring US nuclear weapons to Australian forces operating in Southeast Asia. Since the 1960s, Australian governments have supported hosting joint facilities that contribute to America’s ability to execute global nuclear operations. And Australia has regularly invoked the nuclear umbrella as part of the alliance. We explain the key sources of nuclear cooperation in the alliance by leveraging realist and institutionalist theories of alliance cooperation. While realism explains limits to US nuclear commitments in the 1950s, institutional explanations are more relevant in pinpointing the sources of nuclear cooperation and in explaining why Australia has often achieved its policy preferences as the junior partner.     

China's Energy Future: A Framing Comment

A noted Hong Kong-based specialist on China's energy industries presents a comment on three papers comprising a symposium on that country's rapidly expanding oil, natural gas, and nuclear power sectors. He frames his observations around five overarching themes that have shaped China's energy sector development over recent decades and will continue to do so in the future. These include observations to the effect that: (a) China's energy policy seeks broadly similar objectives to those of other countries; (b) the country's energy resource endowment is not particularly rich when viewed in relation to the size of its population; (c) its energy mix continues to be dominated by coal, with important implications for the environment and domestic freight transportation; (d) the country's economy is confronting a pronounced spatial mismatch between the location of energy resources and the markets where they are consumed; and (e) strategies for energy developments in China are closely tied to overriding political and economic concerns at any given point in time.     

A DNA test for sex identification in cattle confirms osteometric results

It is of vital importance to be able to sex identify cattle remains to understand the strategies and importance of cattle husbandry in an ancient society. This is usually done from osteoarchaeological assemblages and often relies on measurements of metapodials. The breadth measurement of the distal trochlea is considered an easy way to identify the sex. Bones from males appears to be easily distinguishable from female counterparts, although it has been complicated to find an external control for the morphological results. Here we investigate the reliability of these particular morphometrics for sex identifying cattle bones with molecular genetics. We use a sex discriminating single nucleotide polymorphism in the ZFXY gene and we apply it to DNA from the bones. To keep the fragment size short and suitable for ancient DNA we base the test on a SNP. The test confirms the osteological sex identification in all cases were DNA could be retrieved. This molecular method can also be used when no fragments suitable for osteological sex identification can be found or when the measurements are non-conclusive.     

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ISSUES IN SITING A NUCLEAR-FUEL WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITY IN ONTARIO, CANADA

An environmental assessment of the Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Disposal Concept was initiated in 1989. The primary purpose of the assessment is to determine the technical feasibility of burying nuclear-fuel waste deep into the Canadian Shield. If deemed acceptable, a second phase of facility siting will commence. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the social and political dimensions of nuclear-fuel waste management in Canada. It is contended that nuclear-fuel waste management transcends technical concerns, and that the ultimate success or failure of siting procedures is hinged on social and political acceptability. Data focusing on various facets of a nuclear-fuel waste disposal facility were collected from a sample of residents from three northern Ontario communities. Results demonstrate that there is a strong relationship between facility acceptability, risk perception, and distance from community. On the basis of these findings, it is contended that a regional siting approach needs to be developed and implemented to ensure that concerns over the viability of nuclear power, equity, and trust are incorporated and granted legitimacy in the management of nuclear-fuel waste. Une évaluation environnementale du concept d'élimination des déchets de combustible nucléaire au Canada a débuté en 1989. L'idée première de cette évaluation est de déterminer la faisabilité d'enfouir les déchets de combustible nucléaire dans le Bouclier canadien. Si l'on estime que c'est possible, une deuxième phase dans le choix d'un emplacement d'enfouissement débutera. Le but de cet exposé est d'évaluer les dimensions sociale et politique qu'entraînent la gestion des déchets de combustible nucléaire au Canada. On dit que la gestion des déchets de combustible nucléaire va au-delà des préoccupations techniques et que le succès ou l'échec des procédures de choix d'emplacement dépendent aussi de l'acceptabilité sociale et politique. Les données portant sur différentes facettes d'élimination des déchets de combustible nucléaire ont été recueillies auprès de résidents sélectionnés dans trois communautés du nord de l'Ontario. Les résultats ont montré qu'il existait un lien très fort entre l'acceptabilité des installations, la perception de risque qu'elles entraînaient et la distance qui les en séparait de la communauté. Sur la base de ces constatations, on a avancé, quant au choix d'un emplacement, qu'il fallait envisager une approche sur le plan régional pour assurer qu'en matière de gestion des déchets de combustible nucléaire, on reconnaisse de manière légitime les préoccupations touchant à la viabilité de cette énergie.     

Perspectives on the Caspian Sea Dilemma: Russian Policies Since the Soviet Demise

An American political scientist specializing in Soviet and post-Soviet foreign affairs outlines the highlights of Russian policy in the Caspian region from 1991 to late 2003. The paper discusses and analyzes the interaction among the five littoral states (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan) in light of contentious disputes over the sea's demarcation, the routing of pipelines, and efforts to maximize oil and gas exports to the West. Noting instances of "gunboat diplomacy" used by Russia and Iran, as well as the American presence in the region after 9/11 and during the current war in Iraq, the author reflects on the Russian role as a stabilizing force in the region. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O18, Q30, Q40. 1 figure, 74 references.     

Environmental Justice Storytelling: Angels and Isotopes at Yucca Mountain,Nevada

Abstract: This paper discusses the productive role of storytelling in community struggles for environmental justice. The individual and collective task of environmental justice storytelling highlights where the politics of pollution intersect with geographical imaginations. Storytelling takes on a productive role in transforming localized and individual emotions and experiences of environmental injustice into public knowledge that is performed in the world. This paper draws on a case study of nuclear waste disposal at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. I focus on how storytelling enacts scenarios of environmental witnessing and transformation that hold together a plurality of presences, absences, action and imagination, past histories and hope for the future.