What’s Next for the U.S. and China in Cybersecurity
Tim Maurer
It took the threat of sanctions and a flurry of last-minute negotiations to get China to sit down for serious talks about cybersecurity with the U.S. Now comes the hard part. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s announcement last fall that Beijing would stop state sponsorship of hacking for commercial gain caught many by surprise. By multiple recent accounts, China has stayed true to its word. But in the area military types increasingly refer to as the “fifth domain”—after land, sea, air and space—of warfare, a cloud of questions large and tiny still loom over relations between the world’s great powers One emerging expert on the uncertain business of cyberpolitics is Carnegie Endowment for International Peace researcher Tim Maurer, who visited Beijing in late June to meet with Chinese cybersecurity scholars. China Real Time picked Mr. Maurer’s brain on next steps for the U.S. and China, Beijing’s ambitions for managing the internet and the cybersecurity threat that worries him the most.
North Korea Says Missile Launch Was Mock Nuclear Attack on U.S. Defense System
Kwanwoo Jun | Wall Street Journal
North Korea said on Wednesday that the three ballistic missiles it tested a day earlier were mock nuclear-missile attacks on a planned U.S. missile-defense system in South Korea, in its latest protest over the facility. The three missiles were launched from Hwangju, south of Pyongyang, between 5:45 a.m. and 6:40 a.m. Seoul time Tuesday. One flew 500 kilometers (311 miles) and another 600 kilometers (373 miles) before crashing into the sea off the country’s east coast, according to a South Korean military statement, which said the third missile’s trajectory was still being examined.
Royal Navy Nuclear Submarine Collides With Merchant Ship Off Coast of Gibraltar
Independent
A nuclear-powered submarine has collided with a ship off the coast of Gibraltar, with the accident coming despite the Royal Navy saying it has "world leading sensors". The Astute-class submarine, which is the largest nuclear-powered attack craft in the Royal Navy, was submerged below the water as part of a normal training exercise when it had a "glancing collision" with a merchant ship passing by.
Nuclear Subsidies Are Key Part of New York’s Clean-Energy Plan
Vivian Yee | New York Times
The blueprint for New York State’s lofty clean-energy goals relies on the technologies of the future: The state, officials have promised, will draw half of its electricity from renewable and clean energy sources like wind and solar power by 2030. But as the plan takes shape at the state’s Public Service Commission, talk of still-young technologies has been overshadowed by something of a throwback: the state’s aging nuclear power plants.
Should the U.S. Pull Its Nuclear Weapons From Turkey?
Jeffrey Lewis and Kori Schake | New York Times
NATO’s largest cache of nuclear weapons — American hydrogen bombs — is at the Incirlik air base in southeastern Turkey. Air operations from the base were suspended during last week’s coup raising questions about the security of the weapons. Should the United States pull its weapons from Turkey, and other NATO bases, to more secure locations?
Learning About the Bomb is the Best Way to Reduce Nuclear Dangers
Sameer Lalwani and Michael Krepon | Wire
It’s hard to learn about the Bomb in the media. Other issues have a higher call on public attention and press coverage, like counter-terrorism in Pakistan and China’s rise in India. Journal articles in publications devoted to security topics reflect other priorities: Over the past ten years nuclear security research has only featured in 14% of the articles in Strategic Studies published by the Islamabad Strategic Studies Institute and in only seven percent of the articles in Strategic Analysis, published by India’s Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses. Television coverage of nuclear-related topics is paper thin – and about as deep. The Bomb is supposed to be big news, but it turns out that nuclear weapons-related issues take a back seat to other important issues, like the war in Afghanistan, missile defence, and Kashmir.