Showing papers by "Marc A. Levy published in 1995"

The Study of International Regimes

Abstract: The article surveys the literature on international `regimes' Regimes are social institutions that influence the behavior of states and their subjects They consist of informal and formalized prin

Is the Environment a National Security Issue

Abstract: The assertion that many environmental problems constitute security risks is correct, and is of very little importance. The purely rhetorical line of argumentation that urges us to consider environmental problems and security problems as by their very nature inseparable is probably destined to disappear. Whatever needs for attention-getting may have been present in the late 1980`s, they are past now. If the problems these writers point to are really as serious as they say, then the more pressing need is not for more {open_quotes}new thinking{close_quotes} but for effective solutions. 62 refs, 1 tab.

International cooperation to combat acid rain

Abstract: The combustion of some fossil fuels releases compounds into the atmosphere that are capable of travelling hundreds of miles. When they eventually land they an cause damage to crops,c ecosystems, buildings, and human health. This phenomenon has been given the name ‘acid rain’, because often deposition occurs through mixing with precipitation, and because often the mechanism that does the damage is acidification. But ‘acid rain’ has come to mean more than acid rain. The label is now used to cover the long-range transport of pollutants (whether or not deposition occurs through precipitation) that cause harm through mechanisms of either acidification or oxidization. The most important pollutants are sulphur dioxide (SO

Time for a third wave of environment and security scholarship

Abstract: The initial highly rhetorical publications in the 1980s on environment-national security links soon gave way to convincing but unsupported arguments that a direct physical link exists between the global environmental threats and US security. The next wave of publications reported on research into whether environmental issues could fuel violent conflicts but this research was marred by methodological flaws such as a failure to explore the causes of regional conflict as an end in itself and a propensity for merely demonstrating links to environmental deterioration. Recently in-depth research has concluded that 1) resource scarcity per se does not promote direct violence (except possibly in the case of water scarcity) 2) environmental degradation can lead to the mass migration that can spark ethnic conflict and 3) environmental harm can spark ethnic conflict by causing institutional decay and economic deprivation. These disappointing results only support conventional wisdom and have resulted from a flaw in the research that led investigators to look at cases of violent conflict and then to investigate what environmental factors were involved. A logical research strategy and one that should inform the next wave of research would have been to compare societies that exhibit different levels of violent conflict while facing similar environmental problems.

Environment and Security

Abstract: Professor Marc Levy of Princeton University has lately published several critiques of recent scholarship on environmental security, including one in International Security.' He gives particular attention to the results of a major research project on "Environmental Change and Acute Conflict" sponsored by the Peace and Conflict Studies Program at the University of Toronto and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. As the lead researcher for this project and its successors, and as the sole or lead author of several articles that Levy cites,2 I respond to his comments here. I largely agree with Levy's contention that many commentators use "security" as a rhetorical device: by talking about the impact of environmental problems on "security," they make these problems seem like big issues in a highly competitive market for public and policymaker attention. In my writings, I have generally avoided using the word "security,"3 and instead focused on the links between environmental stress and violence. Violence is easier to define, identify, and measure; this focus helps bound our research effort. I also agree with Levy that ozone depletion and climate change could endanger core American values and are therefore direct threats to U.S. security interests.4 Unfortunately, though, Levy does not adequately acknowledge that these are unlikely to be near-term threats to the United States, whereas many regional environmental problems-including land scarcity, fuelwood scarcity, and depletion of water supplies and