War, Resources, and Environment
MAIN POINTS
1. The environment (e.g., terrain) may not only shape war, but also war may shape the environment (e.g. scorched earth tactics like burning oil wells in Kuwait).
2. Uneven and ineqitable distributions of natural resources have been a factor in many conflicts throughout prehistory and history.
3. Furthermore, increasing resource depletion and environmental degradation may contribute to economic competition and political struggles which can become violent as demonstrated by the location and conditions of many of the world's "hot spots."
4. Also neomalthusians argue that increasing population and growing scarcities of renewable resources will increasingly feed sociopolitical instability and violent conflicts during the next century, unless more sustainable and equitable economies and societies are developed along with population stability.
5. Security at the regional, national, international, and global levels must encompass environmental and resource as well as economic and political considerations and these must be factored into foreign policy (e.g., oil in the Gulf War),.
6. Environmental problems and crises are not always isomorphic with national boundaries, but may contribute to either conflicts or cooperation between states, depending on the specific circumstances.
7. A nuclear war would not only impact on ecosystems in the immediate region, but have global consequences on the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.
QUESTIONS
1. How does the environment effect war?
2. How does war effect the environment?
3. What is the relationship between violence and war on the one hand, and on the other factors such as the unequal and inequitable distributions of resources, the depletion of resources and degradation of environments, and growing levels of population and consumption?
4. How has security usually been defined and why is the environment increasingly being recognized as a relevant factor?
5. What would be the short- , middle- and long-term environmental consequences of nuclear war locally, regionally, and globally?
REQUIRED READING
Dabelko, Geoffrey D., and P.J. Simmons, 1997, "Environment and Security: Core Ideas and US Government Initiatives," SAIS Review XVII(1):127-146.
Gleditsch, Nils Petter, 1998, "Armed Conflict and the Environment: A Critique of the Literature," Journal of Peace Research 35(3):381-400.
Homer-Dixon, T.F., J.H. Boutwell, and G.W. Rathjens, 1993, "Environmental Change and Violent Conflict," Scientific American 263(2):38-45.
Westing, Arthur H., 1986, "An Expanded Concept of International Security," in his Global Resources and International Conflict: Environmental Factors in Strategic Policy and Action, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 183-200.
ARTICLES
Baenninger, Ronald, 1991, "Violence Toward Other Species," in Targets of Violence and Aggression, Ronald Baenninger, ed., New York, NY: North-Holland, pp. 5-44.
Barnaby, Frank, 1991, "The Environmental Impact of the Gulf War," The Ecologist 21(4):166-172.
Bissell, Richard E., 1993, "The Natural Resource Wars: Let Them Eat Trees," The Washington Quarterly 17(1):149-165.
Brock, Lothar, 1991, "Peace Through Parks: The Environment on the Peace Research Agenda," Journal of Peace Research 28(4):407-423.
Butts, Kent Hughes, 1994, "Why the Military is Good for the Environment," in Green Security or Militarized Environment, Jyrki Kakonen, ed., Brookfield, VT: Darmouth Press, pp. 83-110.
Byers, Bruce A., 1994, "Armed Forces and the Conservation of Biological Diversity," in Green Security or Militarized Environment, Jyrki Kakonen, ed., Brookfield, VT: Dartmouth Press, pp. 111-130.
The Centre for Science and Environment, 1992, "Statement on Global Environmental Democracy," Alternatives 17(2):261-279.
Chapple, Christopher, 1990, "Ecological Nonviolence and the Hindu Tradition," in Perspectives on Nonviolence, K.V. Kool, ed., New York, NY: Springer-Verlag, pp. 168-177.
Cowdrey, Albert E., 1983, "The Environments of War," Environmental Review 7(2):155-164.
Dalby, Simon, 1992, "Security, Modernity, Ecology: The Dilemmas of Post-Cold War Security Discourse," Alternatives 17(1):95-134.
Drucker, Merrit P., 1989, "The Military Commander's Responsibility for the Environment," Environmental Ethics 11(2):135-152.
Ember, Carol R., and Melvin Ember, 1992, "Warfare, Aggression, and Resource Problems: Cross-Cultural Codes," Behavioral Science Research 26(1-4):169-186.
Ember, Carol R., and Melvin Ember, 1992, "Resource Unpredictability, Mistrust, and War," Journal of Conflict Resolution 36(2):242-262.
Environment special issue on the "Environmental Consequences of Nuclear War," 1988, 30(5).
Fairclough, A.J., 1991, "Global Environmental and Natural Resource Problems- Their Economic, Political, and Security Implications,"
The Washington Quarterly 14(1):81-98.
Finger, Matthias, 1991, "The Military, the Nation State, and the Environment," The Ecologist 21(5):220-225.
Fox, Michael Allen, 1987, "Nuclear Weapons and the Ultimate Environmental Crisis," Environmental Ethics 9(2):159-180.
Gordon, Sandy, 1993, "Resources and Instability in South Asia," Survival 35(2):66-87.
Graeger, Nina, 1996, "Environmental Security?," Journal of Peace Research 33(1):109-116.
Gronemeyer, Marianne, 1996, "The Ecology Movement- A New Field for Peace Education," in Three Decades of Peace Education Around the World: An Anthology, Burns, Robin J., and Robert Aspeslagh,, eds., New York, NY: Garland Publishing, Inc., pp. 211-222.
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Hassan, Shaukat, 1991, "Environmental Issues and Security in South Asia," Adelphi Papers 262.
Heiner, Howard, Daniel Heiner, and Kim Lowell, 1989, "Forest Utilization in War-Torn Nicaragua," Journal of Forestry 87(9):38-43, 45.
Helman, Udi, 1990, "Environment and the National Interest: An Analytical Survey of the Literature," The Washington Quarterly 13(4):193-206.
Helman, Udi, 1995, "Sustainable Development: Strategies for Reconciling Environment and Economy in the Developing World, The Washington Quarterly 18(4):189-207.
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International Journal 1992, XLVII(4), special issue on "Environment and Development: Rio and After."
Journal of Peace Research 1998, 35(3), special issue on "Environmental Conflict."
Keller, Kenneth H., 1996, "Unpackaging the Environment," World Policy Journal XIII(3):11-23.
Luke, Timothy W., 1998, "The (Un)Wise (Ab)Use of of Nature: Environmentalism as Global Consumerism," Alternatives 23(2):175-212.
Millennium 1990, 19(3), special issue "Global Environmental Change and International Relations."
Orme, John, 1997/98, "The Utility of Force in a World of Scarcity," International Security 22(3):138-167.
Payne, Rodger A., 1998, "The Limits and Promise of Environmental Conflict Prevention: The Case of GEF," Journal of Peace Research 35(3):363-380.
Peace Review 1994, 6(3), special issue on "Development and Environment."
Pirages, Dennis Clark, 1991, "The Greening of Peace Research," Journal of Peace Research 28(2):129-133.
Pittock, A.B., et al., 1985, "Physical and Atmospheric Effects," in Mark A. Harwell, et al., eds., Environmental Consequences of Nuclear War, Volume II, New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 505-517
Renner, Michael, 1989, "National Security:The Economic and Environmental Dimensions," World Watch Paper No. 89.
Ronnfeldt, Carsten F., 1997, "Three Generations of Environment and Security Research," Journal of Peace Research 34(4):473-482.
Rotfeld, Adam Daniel, et al., 1992, "The Environment and Security," SIPRI Yearbook 1993, pp. 1-41.
Rowlands, Ian, 1991, "The Security Challenges of Global Environmental Change," The Washington Quarterly 14(1):99-114.
Shaw, R. Paul, 1993, "Warfare, National Sovereignty, and the Environment," Environmental Conservation 20(2): 113-119.
Steel, Dennis, 1993, "The Army's War for the Environment," Army 43(7):16-21.
Tickell, Crispin, 1993, "The World After the Summit Meeting at Rio," The Washington Quarterly 16(2):75-82.
Tir, Jaroslav, and Paul F. Diehl, 1998, "Demographic Pressure and Interstate Conflict: Linking Population Growth and Density to Militarized Disputes and Wars, 1930-1989," Journal of Peace Research 35(3):319-340.
Turco, Richard P., et al., 1990, "The Climate Effects of Nuclear War," Scientific American 251(2):33-43.
Turner, Tom, 1991, "Ground Zero: The American Military vs. The American Land," Wilderness 55:10-15, 31-33, 36.
Wapner, Paul, 1995, "Politics Beyond the State: Environmental Activism and World Politics," World Politics 47(3):311-340.
Warner, Sir Frederick, 1991, "The Environmental Consequences of the Gulf War," Environment 33(5):6-9, 25-26.
Westing, Arthur H., 1984, "Environmental Warfare: An Overview," in his Environmental Warfare: A Technical, Legal and Policy Appraisal, Philadelphia, PA: Taylor and Francis, pp. 3-12.
Westing, Arthur H., 1985, "The Threat of Biological Warfare" BioScience 35(10):627-633.
Westing, Arthur H., 1986, "Environmental Factors in Strategic Policy and Action: An Overview," in his Global Resources and International Conflict: Environmental Factors in Strategic Policy and Action, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 3-20.
Westing, Arthur H., 1988, "Towards Non-violent Conflict Resolution and Environmental Protection: A Synthesis," in Cultural Norms, War and Environment, Arthur H. Westing, ed., New York, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 151-159.
Wood, Charles H., and Marianne Schmink, 1993, "The Military and the Environment in the Brazilian Amazon," Journal of Political and Military Sociology 21(1):81-105.
Zirker, Daniel, and Marvin Henberg, 1994, "Amazonia: Democracy, Ecology, and Brazilian Military Prerogatives in the 1990s," Armed Forces & Society 20(2):259-281.
BOOKS
Bellany, Ian, 1997, The Environment in World Politics: Exploring the Limits, Cheltenham, England: Edward Elgar.
Harwell, M.A., and T.C. Hutchinson, eds., 1985, Environmental Consequences of Nuclear War, Volume II: Ecological and Agricultural Effects, New York, NY: John Wiley.
Hastings, Tom H., 2000, Ecology of War and Peace: Counting Costs of Conflict, Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Johnston, Barbara Rose, ed., 1994, Who Pays the Price? The Sociocultural Context of Environmental Crisis, Washington, D.C.: Island Press.
Johnston, Barbara Rose, ed., 1997, Life and Death Matters: Human Rights and the Environment at the End of the Millennium, Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press.
Kakonen, Jyrki, ed., 1994, Green Security or Militarized Environment, Brookfield, VT: Dartmouth.
Lanier-Graham, Susan D., 1993, The Ecology of War: Environmental Impacts of Weaponry and Warfare, New York, NY: Walker and Co.
Lewallen, John, 1971, Ecology of Devastation in Indochina, Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, Inc.
London, Julius, and Gilbert F. White, eds., 1984, The Environmental Effects of Nuclear War, Washington, D.C.: American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Manes, Christopher, 1990, Green Rage: Radical Environmentalism and the Unmaking of Civilization, Boston, MA: Little, Brown.
McCulloch, Jock, 1984, The Politics of Agent Orange: The Australian Experience, Richmond, Victoria, Australia: Heinemann.
Myers, Norman, 1996, Ultimate Security: The Environmental Basis of Political Stability, Washington, D.C.: Island Press.
Peterson, Jeannie, ed., 1983, The Aftermath: The Human and Ecological Consequences of Nuclear War, New York, NY: Pantheon Books.
Pittock, A.B., et al., eds., 1985, Environmental Consequences of Nuclear War, Volume I Physical and Atmospheric Effects, New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.
Renner, Michael, 1996, Fighting for Survival: Environmental Decline, Social Conflict, and the New Age of Insecurity, New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co.
Riordan, Michael, ed., 1982, The Day After Midnight: The Effects of Nuclear War, Palo Alto, CA: Cheshire Books.
Schreurs, Miranda A., and Elizabeth C. Economy, eds., 1997, The Internationalization of Environmental Protection, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Shabecoff, Philip, 1996, A New Name for Peace: International Environmentalism, Sustainable Development, and Democracy, Hanover, CT: University Press of New England.
Thomas, William, 1995, Scorched Earth: The Military's Assault on the Environment, Philadelphia, PA: New Society Publishers.
Westing, Arthur H., 1980, Warfare in a Fragile World: Military Impact on the Human Environment, London, England: Taylor and Francis.
Westing, Arthur H., ed., 1984, Environmental Warfare: A Technical, Legal and Policy Appraisal, Philadelphia, PA: Taylor and Francis.
Westing, Arthur H., 1986, Global Resources and International Conflict: Environmental Factors in Strategic Policy and Action, New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Westing, Arthur H., ed., 1988, Cultural Norms, War and the Environment, New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Wilcox, Fred A., 1983, Waiting for an Army to Die: The Tragedy of Agent Orange, New York, NY: Random House.