by Geoff Dabelko
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Going head to head with Chuck Norris
Water, conflict, and security on the banks of the Hudson 0
Posted 5 days, 11 hours ago The lecture was only a few hours away. Chuck Norris was pitching his new book on post at the same hour. In desperation, I turned to Facebook. “I’ve got just 50 minutes with the cadets at West Point today to talk water, conflict, and cooperation. What are the most compelling examples you would use to make both hard security and human security points, both threat and opportunity points? I ask in part because it is proving harder to decide what to leave out than what to put in!”
Within seconds, experts from the Departments of… Read More -
More than a pretty slogan
Climate plus security minus hyperbole still scary 0
Posted 3 months ago The impact of climate change on national security has finally moved above the fold. And as the December Copenhagen climate change negotiations approach, politicians and experts alike are being forced to examine the complex effects of natural and social change on security. They must also walk a linguistic tightrope between hyperbole and uncertainty, working to present the facts without exaggerating their meaning. So how do they maintain balance while climate security arguments are touted as a way to compel a tough climate agreement in Copenhagen? The short answer: It won't be easy. Read More -
EP in the FT
Glaciers, cheetahs, and nukes, oh my! 0
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago Financial Times South Asia Bureau Chief James Lamont has written a flood of environment-as-political-dialogue stories this week! Read More -
Lithium: Are “blood batteries” next? 3
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago The lithium story and the complex social, economic, and political disputes it could engender in Bolivia should flag for us an important consideration in the fight against climate change: trying to do right by climate change and energy security might trigger unforeseen conflicts. Read More -
THIS TALK AIN'T CHEAP
Science diplomacy: An expectations game 0
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago In "The Limits of Science Diplomacy," SciDev.net Director David Dickson argues that scientific collaboration can achieve only very limited diplomatic victories. A conference hosted by the Royal Society in London earlier this month, entitled "New Frontiers in Science Diplomacy", seems to have arrived at a similar conclusion.But this view of science diplomacy is overly pessimistc.
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Changing the climate with China’s military 0
Posted 7 months ago When I heard President Obama call for more regular dialogue between the Chinese and American militaries, my first thought was, Why not the environment? Read More -
Tall glass of denial
Fallout from Jordan’s radioactive water 2
Posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Last week, I wrote on New Security Beat about startling new research that found very high levels of naturally occurring radioactivity in some of Jordan's fossil groundwater. Measurements up to 2,000 percent higher than the international drinking water safety levels were found in the Disi aquifers in southern Jordan. Duke University's Avner Vengosh and his international team published the results in the highly respected, peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science & Technology.
Last Friday a Jordan Times story featured government assurances that all of the country's water was… Read More
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Biofuels fueling conflict
The need for good research 11
Posted 2 years, 3 months ago The rush to put biofuels in our gas tanks has given people analyzing natural resources and conflict some work to do. How are European and American policy mandates to dramatically increase the use of biofuels affecting the places that grow biofuel inputs? It seems fair to say that little consideration has been given to the potential conflict and equity impacts of this surge in demand for palm oil, sugarcane, and corn.After President Bush's 2007 State of the Union address, which called for massive increases in biofuels, we heard stories of skyrocketing corn tortilla prices and resulting social disruptions.
Now… Read More
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A word of caution on climate change and 'refugees'
It’s sometimes problematic to attribute migration specifically to climate change 9
Posted 2 years, 4 months ago
Scholars, policy analysts, and even military officers are breaking down climate change's impacts into what they hope are more manageable topics for examination. The migration that climate change could cause is one such topic. For instance, the Center for American Progress recently posted a piece entitled "Climate Refugees: Global Warming will Spur Migration." The International Peace Academy analyzed "Climate Change and Conflict: The Migration Link" (PDF) in a May 2007 Coping With Crisis working paper. Climate change-induced migration also figured prominently in the security perspective offered by the CNA Corporation's… Read More
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The 'crime' of dialogue: Iran's disgraceful detention of Haleh Esfandiari
Environmental peacekeeping runs into authoritarianism 5
Posted 2 years, 4 months ago My friend and colleague is in jail. Unjustly.Her name is Haleh Esfandiari, and she is a grandmother. In early May, she was thrust into solitary confinement in Iran's Evin Prison with a single blanket. She hasn't been allowed to meet with her friends, family, or lawyers since then. This picture shows Evin Prison nestled within the leafy northern suburbs of Tehran at the foot of snowcapped mountains, but the prison has none of the bucolic qualities that the image suggests. "Notorious" is the ubiquitous descriptor.
Haleh's "crime" is doing… Read More
