North Korea’s nuclear issue

Given the unpredictability of North Korea’s leadership, and its capability to develop nuclear weapons, the North Korean nuclear issue has become one of the most important concerns in the region in the last few years, particularly for the United States, Japan, and, of course, South Korea. Up until January 30, 1992, when North Korea finally concluded the fullscope safeguards agreement, the focus of concern was the very fact that North Korea repeatedly had refused to conclude the obligatory agreement for more than six years since December 12, 1985, when it signed the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).     

Reining in James: the limits of the task force

Abstract. Special planning groups composed of non-civil servants are useful in removing burdensome issues from officials and ministers, but if they seriously inconvenience an administration they will be restrained. This is an account of such a case, involving F. Cyril James's Committee on Reconstruction (1941-43), which shows how the Committee was brought under control for discussing post-World War Two plans with the provinces. This extreme case throws into question some conventional thinking about task forces. It also highlights an essential trade-off between coherent and comprehensive planning based in the bureaucracy, and ease of implementation based on a consensus which may be most effectively secured by the wide consultations characteristic of ‘extra-departmental’ committees. Sommaire. Les groupes spéciaux de planification composés de non fonctionnaires sont utiles en ce qu'ils aident à retirer des mains des fonctionnaires et des ministres des questions difficiles, mais lorsqu'ils dérangent sérieusement une administration, on limite leurs pouvoirs. C'est ce qu'illustre le présent cas du Comité de reconstruction de F. Cyril James (1941-43); l'article démontre comment ce comité fut réprimé pour avoir discuté avec les provinces des projets postérieurs à la Seconde guerre mondiale. Ce cas extrême remet en question l'idée que l'on se fait traditionnellement des groupes de travail. Il met également en lumiére un compromis essentiel entre la planification cohérente et compéte reposant sur la bureaucratie et la facilité d'exécution reposant sur un consensus qui peut être obtenu le plus efficacement par les consultations de grande envergure caractéristiques des comités extra-ministériels.