Key Aspects of Economic and Environmental Security
Economic security or financial security is the condition of having stable income or other resources to support a standard of living now and in the foreseeable future. It includes probable continued solvency and predictability of the future cash flow of a person or other economic entity, such as a country.
Economic Security Tools
- Sanctions: Politically motivated denial or threat of denial of normal economic relations in order to influence the behavior of adversaries without going to war
- Have developed over time to target specific sectors of economies
- US economic embargo on Cuba (1962) after Cuba nationalized all US-person owned property; goal: regime change
- Mixed results: success in South Africa against Apartheid
- Trade
- Ideally, all are better off with free trade
- Not all are for free trade, whether democrats or autocrats
- Preferential trade in textiles with Pakistan
- Pros: goodwill, future leverage, promotes economy (stabilization)
- Cons: loss of US jobs, unreliable country
- Trade links to security (Example: Jordan)
- Finance: Exchange of money influences national security
- Creates opportunities to leverage world leaders and events.
- George Soros: “The man who broke the Bank of England”
- Forced bank to devalue currency and leave the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
- Post-9/11 Counterterrorism Financing
- Name and shame strategy
- Blocks assets of known supporters
- Aid: Provide or deny development assistance for national security reasons
- Quid-pro-quo (e.g., US wants access to an air base, provides aid in return)
- Ending poverty promotes global security.
- 2004 G.W. Bush Millennium Challenge Account: Aid provided if government meets good governance goals (e.g., welcoming foreign direct investment, rule of law).
- Does this help international reputation? Possibly, yes.
Development and Conflict
Low levels of per capita income significantly exacerbate the risk of civil war (a risk factor for intrastate conflict).
Economic Sanctions and Controversy
- Politically motivated denial or threat of denial of normal economic relations
- US economic embargo on Cuba in 1962 with the goal of regime change.
- Mixed results due to varying cases and time periods studied
- South Africa against Apartheid: Successful, but took a long time.
- Sanctions on Iraq (1990-2003): Unsuccessful, increased child mortality.
- Working towards smarter sanctions targeting elites rather than citizens.
Environmental Security
- Environmental threats relating directly to warfare
- Environmental modification techniques used in warfare (e.g., water diversion in Netherlands defense, smoke in UK WWI tactics in Belgium)
- Damage to the environment as a consequence of war
- Threaten species with extinction (e.g., gorillas in Congo, Rwanda)
- Leaves behind radioactive waste (e.g., tank armor, armor-piercing shells)
- Environmental threats not directly related to warfare
- Countries dumping nuclear materials into the ocean (e.g., Russia)
- Navy’s use of mid-frequency sonar harms whales.
- Deforestation, desertification, overfishing, untreated sewage, polluted air, global warming… potentially leading to conflict?
- Resource Scarcity and Conflict
- “Scarcities of critical environmental resources—especially cropland, freshwater, and forests—contribute to violence in many parts of the world.”
- Within countries:
- Refugee flows
- Humanitarian crises
- Collapsed states
- Most disputed resources:
- Water
- 1964: Syria and Lebanon attempted to divert water from the Jordan River away from newly built irrigation canals in Israel by building a dam. Israel responded with military force.
- Oil
- A central role in modern conflicts.
- Water
- Global Warming
- Related to petroleum consumption
- Releases carbon dioxide
- Rising sea levels
- Flooding
- Changed vegetation patterns
- Threat to subsistence agriculture
- Disproportionately affects the poor
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
At the Millennium Summit in 2000, the UN adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, which soon became known as the Millennium Development Goals.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the world’s time-bound and quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions—income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion—while promoting gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability.
- Goal 1: Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
- Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
- Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
- Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
- Goal 5: Improve maternal health
- Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
- Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
- Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
Indivisibility of Security
A narrowly self-interested security policy is insufficient. The increasing nexus among food, water, and energy—in combination with climate change—highlights this. Addressing global poverty requires wealthy states to recognize that security is indivisible. Their willingness to take action is, in fact, an investment in their own security.