Environmental Security Flashcards
Climate Change (13 cards)
What is the relationship between security and environment?
It involves understanding who is held responsible and the implications of viewing environmental issues as security threats.
The referent object of security is typically the nation-state, which faces threats to sovereignty and territorial security.
In what ways does climate change pose a threat to global security?
It threatens geopolitical stability and is seen as a substantial inhibitor of peace due to resource scarcity.
The connection between climate change and conflict is not empirically proven.
What is a threat multiplier in the context of climate change?
It refers to how climate change exacerbates pre-existing threats and contributes to security risks.
This concept is often used by militaries to highlight the increased risks associated with climate change.
True or False: Climate change directly causes conflict.
False
There is no empirical proof that climate change directly causes conflict; it is more about the interaction with existing vulnerabilities.
What is environmental security concerned with?
It examines the linkages between environmental causes, such as natural disasters and water shortages, and their effects on the security of people and societies.
Environmental security is a contested concept arising from the merging of environment and security.
Fill in the blank: Environmental security leads to several causal links between the environment and security, including resources, conflicts, national security, and the _______ of the environment through war.
devastation
What is societal climate security?
It refers to the discourse that protects a way of life heavily dependent on fossil fuels, often criminalizing activists who challenge this status quo.
This discourse supports fossil fuel reliance and may lead to pseudo-solutions like geoengineering.
What existential anxieties does the Anthropocene raise for International Relations?
It raises physical, spiritual, and moral anxieties about human existence and responsibility towards the planet.
These anxieties challenge traditional IR theories and call for a reimagining of approaches.
What are the challenges to International Relations posed by the Anthropocene?
Challenges include anthropocentrism, universalism, and hubris.
There is a need to embrace uncertainty and consider non-human agency in global politics.
What is the argument against linking environmental degradation and national security?
It is analytically misleading as national security focuses on interstate violence, which is unrelated to environmental problems or solutions.
The author argues that harnessing nationalism for environmental action may undermine globalist awareness.
What does the securitization of the environment produce?
It produces harmful outcomes that do not effectively address environmental security issues.
National security approaches are insufficient for tackling global environmental problems.
