Environmental Security and Global Stability: Problems and Responses

Paul G. Gaffney II

Once ignored in the formulation of national security policy and strategy, environmental security today is addressed in every serious think-piece written on any region of the world. We have arrived, a little late, but together. Commanders of regional military commands, diplomats, policy wonks, oceanographers, foresters, hydrologists, special interest groups, and congressmen and presidents are all thinking about internal and cross-border instability all around the world. When these people look at the root causes of instability that might fester into conflict and possible state failure, more and more fingers point at natural and man-made causes and effects of environmental degradation.

Pick your region—the chapter authors who follow have. Pick your poison—the chapters that follow cover many topics that make up the broad categories of "environmental degradation and stressors." The authors discuss the consequences of aberrant water supply (too much and too little), deforestation, pollution, population migration, disease vectors, political consequences of natural and man-made disasters, and more. The contributors to this volume will stir you up. They clearly link cause (environmental irresponsibility) with effect (instability that can lead to armed force intervention). You will see that security-stability based issues-especially those with roots in the environment-are key issues that policy writers, diplomats, warriors, and national leaders must address for security purposes.

In the past, we citizens of the world characterized the environmental issue in terms of human responsibility and civic morality. Rightly so, but too few paid attention. Well, pay attention now. The focus of this volume is security—our security. The people who write know the subject because they have seen its creeping virulence up close. They are experts, hardened by many diplomatic, policy, and security trials.

Reader, please enjoy this important book. Heed the message Dr. Max Manwaring pulls together for you. This subject will i

U.S. Ambassador (ret.) Edwin G. Corr

The environment has become an essential component of national security, and U.S. interests require policy makers and implementers to understand and give attention to this subject. There is no better way to grasp the dimensions of and solutions for this area than by reading this superb book.

Eric Dannenmeier

This is an essential volume for anyone interested in understanding the critical relationship between environmental threats and global stability. It is both a policy primer and a cautionary tale. In an era of new fears, new adversaries, and new battlefields, the challenges outlined in this book may be the most critical for long-term security.

Parameters

This book has tremendous value for both civilian and military planners at high levels. It is alarming in its predictions and irrefutable in its logic. At the same time, it is readable, not loaded with academic jargon and not overly lengthy. It furnishes the right basis for discussion of what is to be done in an insecure world before it is too late. Admiral Gaffney summed it up well with those two words: 'pay attention.'