Representing Climate Change through the Lens of Environmental Security: Thirty Years of the Department of Defense Defining a Threat Multiplier and Military Resilience

One of the key ways in which environmental emergency is recognized in the United States is as a military issue through the lens of environmental security. This article proposes an expanded understanding of this concept by taking a historical look at the evolving role of the Department of Defense in...

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Main Author: Michael STRICOF
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Laboratoire d’Etudes et de Recherches sur le Monde Anglophone (LERMA) 2021-06-01
Series:E-REA
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/erea/11609
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author Michael STRICOF
author_facet Michael STRICOF
author_sort Michael STRICOF
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description One of the key ways in which environmental emergency is recognized in the United States is as a military issue through the lens of environmental security. This article proposes an expanded understanding of this concept by taking a historical look at the evolving role of the Department of Defense in defining environmental security from the late 1980s, when the term first gained traction, through the Donald Trump administration. This approach highlights consistent themes in the Pentagon’s environmental mitigation and adaptation plans, notably through its definition of climate change as a threat multiplier and the need to increase the military’s resilience to changing weather conditions. By tracing the Department of Defense’s response to environmental risks over more than three decades, a consistently refined narrative emerges which allows us to understand defense climate priorities, regardless of varying political leadership.
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spelling doaj-art-732006acc89d4329ad410e056fbcca542025-01-09T12:53:47ZengLaboratoire d’Etudes et de Recherches sur le Monde Anglophone (LERMA)E-REA1638-17182021-06-0118210.4000/erea.11609Representing Climate Change through the Lens of Environmental Security: Thirty Years of the Department of Defense Defining a Threat Multiplier and Military ResilienceMichael STRICOFOne of the key ways in which environmental emergency is recognized in the United States is as a military issue through the lens of environmental security. This article proposes an expanded understanding of this concept by taking a historical look at the evolving role of the Department of Defense in defining environmental security from the late 1980s, when the term first gained traction, through the Donald Trump administration. This approach highlights consistent themes in the Pentagon’s environmental mitigation and adaptation plans, notably through its definition of climate change as a threat multiplier and the need to increase the military’s resilience to changing weather conditions. By tracing the Department of Defense’s response to environmental risks over more than three decades, a consistently refined narrative emerges which allows us to understand defense climate priorities, regardless of varying political leadership.https://journals.openedition.org/erea/11609Department of Defenseenvironmental securityenvironmental protectionAmerican politics
spellingShingle Michael STRICOF
Representing Climate Change through the Lens of Environmental Security: Thirty Years of the Department of Defense Defining a Threat Multiplier and Military Resilience
E-REA
Department of Defense
environmental security
environmental protection
American politics
title Representing Climate Change through the Lens of Environmental Security: Thirty Years of the Department of Defense Defining a Threat Multiplier and Military Resilience
title_full Representing Climate Change through the Lens of Environmental Security: Thirty Years of the Department of Defense Defining a Threat Multiplier and Military Resilience
title_fullStr Representing Climate Change through the Lens of Environmental Security: Thirty Years of the Department of Defense Defining a Threat Multiplier and Military Resilience
title_full_unstemmed Representing Climate Change through the Lens of Environmental Security: Thirty Years of the Department of Defense Defining a Threat Multiplier and Military Resilience
title_short Representing Climate Change through the Lens of Environmental Security: Thirty Years of the Department of Defense Defining a Threat Multiplier and Military Resilience
title_sort representing climate change through the lens of environmental security thirty years of the department of defense defining a threat multiplier and military resilience
topic Department of Defense
environmental security
environmental protection
American politics
url https://journals.openedition.org/erea/11609
work_keys_str_mv AT michaelstricof representingclimatechangethroughthelensofenvironmentalsecuritythirtyyearsofthedepartmentofdefensedefiningathreatmultiplierandmilitaryresilience