Climate Change and National Security

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Climate change is quickly becoming the largest and most complex challenge facing the world today. A massive hurricane, devastating flood or a colossal earthquake has the potential to eradicate an entire country. As a result, the United States needs to have an action plan in place that establishes protocols for natural disasters that occur domestically and those that occur in nations worldwide. Instead of fighting terrorism, the US military may have to intervene in a water or food war between nations. In Security Studies: An Introduction, the author argues that research done in the 1990s determined that depleting natural resources did not lead to armed conflict. However, the author goes on to state that “if modern societies don’t prepare for what we know is coming then we might indeed get conflict and insecurity if political elites try to violently re-impose control on a rapidly changing world.” Combating climate change is not something that can be tackled unilaterally. Instead, preparing for climate change requires long term and sustainable international cooperation.
The need for a united global front to confront climate change is particularly important in countries like Turkey where the US is a key ally. Given that Turkey is one of the few stable countries in the Middle East, the US has a mutual interest in ensuring that climate change does not have a negative impact on Turkey. Furthermore, because Turkey lies in both Europe and Asia it can provide valuable intelligence to the US on developing situations in China, North Korea and other Asian nations.
Impact of Climate Change on National Security:
In the coming decade, climate change will lead to more storms, droughts and floods that will have serious consequences on ...

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.... 26 Apr. 2014. .

United States. U.S. Army. Strategic Studies Institute. Global Climate Change: National Security Implications. By Carolyn W. Pumphrey. May 2008. Accessed May 3, 2014. http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/pub862.pdf.

Vagg, Xander. "American Security: the Impact of Climate Change." The american security project 1 (2012): 1-5. Print.

"What Is the Future of Water? | Water in the Future | Water in 2050." Growing Blue Water in 2050 Comments. Accessed May 03, 2014. http://growingblue.com/water-in-2050/.

"Why Turkey suffers earthquake misery." BBC News. BBC, 3 Aug. 2010. Web. 26 Apr. 2014. .

Williams, Paul. "Climate Change and Environmental Security." In Security Studies: An Introduction, London: Routledge, 2008.

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