Author: Tetsuya Endo, JIIA

In the wake of the Fukushima accident, a growing push for denuclearisation is playing out in Japan.

Under pressure from this movement, Japan’s nuclear power industry faces an immediate crisis.  Read more…

Author: Tetsuya Endo, JIIA

In the wake of last year’s North Korean military provocations and given recent offers by North Korea to reestablish dialogue, North Korea’s policies warrant consideration from two perspectives: strategic and tactical.

North Korea has four main strategic objectives. Firstly, it will aim to quickly solidify the process of succession to Kim Jong-un, working to glorify Kim Jong-un and strengthen regime legitimacy. Read more…

Author: Tetsuya Endo, AJISS

There are currently two major trends occurring with regard to nuclear power: one is efforts toward the abolition of nuclear weapons and the other the growing interest in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The first trend, exemplified in the nuclear disarmament movement, originated in the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Until very recently, its main advocates have been the so-called ‘have-nots,’ including Japan, the sole country to have suffered from atomic bombings, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) countries, Northern European countries, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. They have argued rather from an idealistic standpoint, emphasising the inhumanity of nuclear weapons. Read more…