The Meaning of Environmental Security - Ecological Politics and Policy in the New Security Era (Paperback)

Concern over environmental degradation has impacted in many other areas, including notions of security in international relations. The problem, as this author cogently argues, is that the concept of environmental security, which has become so popular since the end of the Cold War, has been highjacked by traditionalist scholars and the military. They take it to mean simply that environmental problems can threaten national security. They worry about a new generation of violent conflicts growing out of struggles over scarce natural resources. This book suggests a more humane and radical interpretation: environmental security should be seen as only one dimension of the wider problem of human security where the livelihoods, health and welfare of people are being undermined by environmental degradation.