January 29, 2020

Dear Network Members and Colleagues,

We would like to share with you the latest APLN column in The Korea Times by APLN Chair and former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans’s “Restoring US Credibility, Soft Power.”

In his letter to President Biden, Chair Evans addresses the challenges that the international community faces and the role that American leadership will play in providing practical solutions to global public goods problems such as climate change, pandemics, and nuclear war.

He highlights the biggest single foreign policy challenge that President Biden will face “will be navigating a modus vivendi with China” and offers advice on how to moderate China’s behavior and to focus on areas where China can play a constructive and potentially cooperative role.

On nuclear weapons, he calls on the President to set his sights higher and get serious about nuclear disarmament. Important steps include adopting nuclear risk reduction measures such as de-alerting nuclear weapons and the “no first use” doctrinal policy.

Read Letter

Nagasaki 75th Anniversary
Pandemic-Nuclear Nexus Scenarios

The publication of Pandemic Futures and Nuclear Weapon Risks: The Nagasaki 75th Anniversary Pandemic-Nuclear Nexus Scenarios is now available in both Korean and Japanese versions.

Watch six of the workshop participants from across the region with diverse backgrounds and perspectives offer their views on scenario planning and why a project such as this is necessary today.

Speakers include APLN Vice-Chair Professor Chung-in Moon, Ph.D. Wellbeing Educator Dr. Jodi-Anne Smith, APLN Member Professor Dingli Shen, Vietnamese-Australian fiction writer Vivian Pham, M.D., Ph.D., Nagasaki hibakusha Dr. Masao Tomonaga, and APLN Research Director Dr. Peter Hayes.

Network Members’ Activities

The Nuclear Ban Treaty Becomes the Law
On 22 January, APLN board member and Professor Ramesh Thakur discusses the significance and importance of ratification of the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) for the Australian Institute of International Affairs. Prof. Thakur outlines the implications of the TPNW for nuclear-armed states and nuclear-dependent allies, and makes suggestion on risk reduction can be encouraged. Read more. The Responsibility to Disarm and the Nuclear Ban Treaty
On 22 January, Professor Thakur wrote for the Bulletin Board of the Atomic Scientists on the TPNW and argues that it must become the sovereign responsibility of each state to disarm nuclear weapons, including the P5 countries. Read more. Has the Moon Administration’s Foreign Policy Been a Failure?
On 25 January, in an article for the Korean newspaper, The Hankyoreh, APLN Vice-Chair and Professor Chung-in Moon highlights the achievements of the Moon administration’s foreign policy in maintaining peace and stability on the Korean peninsula despite challenges from the pandemic and geopolitics. Read more.

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