15
What in the World Is Worth Fighting
for? Using Models for
Environmental Security
Wendell Chris King and Virginia H. Dale
289
15.1 Introduction
Dramatic human-induced changes occurring in our environment adversely
affect the Earth today and, if left unabated, will seriously impact the safety
and security of our world in the future. A burgeoning population and its
demands for natural resources, renewable and nonrenewable, are leading
this assault on the environment. Some consider technology a coconspirator
in the degradation of the environment. Certainly, technology has evolved
to the point that it can do great harm; conversely, technology can also heal
and mitigate.
Conceptually, threats to peace and security associated with environmental issues have been collected under the term environmental security.
Environmental security is a process for effectively responding to changing
environmental conditions that have the potential to reduce peace and
stability in the world and thus affect a country’s national security. Accomplishing national environmental security goals requires planning and the
execution of programs to prevent and/or mitigate anthropogenic adverse
changes in the environment and to minimize the impacts of potential
environmental disaster or ecoterrorism (King 2000).
The concept of environmental security is not new, particularly for the
academic community where the environmental movement began. Many
of the eminent scientists who advanced our understanding of the Earth’s
environment were also the “doomsayers” (as they were characterized at
the time) who predicted catastrophic environmental consequences as a
result of uncontrolled human activity. Norman Myers (1986), an early
environmental security scholar, expressed the relationship between the
environment and world stability well when he wrote,
Hence national security is not just about fighting forces and weaponry. It relates
to watersheds, croplands, forests, genetic resources, climate and other factors that
rarely figure in the minds of military experts and political leaders, but increasingly deserve, in their collectivity, to rank alongside military approaches as crucial
in a nation’s security.
What in the World Is Worth Fighting
for? Using Models for
Environmental Security
Wendell Chris King and Virginia H. Dale
289
15.1 Introduction
Dramatic human-induced changes occurring in our environment adversely
affect the Earth today and, if left unabated, will seriously impact the safety
and security of our world in the future. A burgeoning population and its
demands for natural resources, renewable and nonrenewable, are leading
this assault on the environment. Some consider technology a coconspirator
in the degradation of the environment. Certainly, technology has evolved
to the point that it can do great harm; conversely, technology can also heal
and mitigate.
Conceptually, threats to peace and security associated with environmental issues have been collected under the term environmental security.
Environmental security is a process for effectively responding to changing
environmental conditions that have the potential to reduce peace and
stability in the world and thus affect a country’s national security. Accomplishing national environmental security goals requires planning and the
execution of programs to prevent and/or mitigate anthropogenic adverse
changes in the environment and to minimize the impacts of potential
environmental disaster or ecoterrorism (King 2000).
The concept of environmental security is not new, particularly for the
academic community where the environmental movement began. Many
of the eminent scientists who advanced our understanding of the Earth’s
environment were also the “doomsayers” (as they were characterized at
the time) who predicted catastrophic environmental consequences as a
result of uncontrolled human activity. Norman Myers (1986), an early
environmental security scholar, expressed the relationship between the
environment and world stability well when he wrote,
Hence national security is not just about fighting forces and weaponry. It relates
to watersheds, croplands, forests, genetic resources, climate and other factors that
rarely figure in the minds of military experts and political leaders, but increasingly deserve, in their collectivity, to rank alongside military approaches as crucial
in a nation’s security.