RSIS Seminar on “Network Analysis in Proliferation Research: Mapping the Development of North Korea’s Domestic Nuclear Research Networks”

Seminar Abstract

“In this seminar, Dr Justin Hastings will describe how a network analysis approach to trade and research relevant to the spread of nuclear materials, technology, and knowledge can aid analysis of countries’ nuclear capabilities, thus improving nuclear non-proliferation, safeguards, and security efforts. Dr Hastings will then use network analysis to look at how North Korea’s nuclear research community developed in the context of its science and technology policy, and how this development reflected progress in North Korea’s nuclear programme. Using a dataset of North Korean domestic scientific journal articles, he will assess the structure of the North Korea’s nuclear research communities from the beginning of the country’s nuclear programme until its capability “completion” in 2018. The networks showed increasing internal density of research collaborations, suggesting North Korea was able to improve knowledge transfer, and consolidate its nuclear research community over time. Furthermore, different areas of nuclear-related research increased interconnectivity over time, particularly in the run-up to milestones in North Korea’s nuclear development. Dr Hastings will conclude with implications for engaging with North Korea on science and technology issues.”

About the Speaker

Justin Hastings is Professor of International Relations and Comparative Politics at the University of Sydney. His research looks at the structure and behaviour of illicit actors such as terrorist groups, insurgencies, maritime piracy syndicates, black and gray markets, organised crime, and nuclear proliferation networks, primarily in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean Region. He is the author of No Man’s Land: Globalization, Territory and Clandestine Groups in Southeast Asia (2010) and A Most Enterprising Country: North Korea in the Global Economy (2016), both from Cornell University Press. He has also worked in the past for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Center for Global Security Research as a Public Policy and Nuclear Threats Fellow, and has done work to support the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Department of Safeguards. He holds an AB in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University, and an MA (2003) and PhD (2008) in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.