Conflict and the Environment

Abstract

The book is the main output of a NATO Advanced Research Workshop held in June1996 with the aim of examining the links between environment, conflict and security in the context of a rapidly changing post-Cold War world. The common point of departure was the multiple causality of conflict, so that environmental scarcity could not be presented as the most important cause of conflict. Water as a source of environmental conflict was one of the eight main topics of the book. Water scarcity and misuse were identified as significant threats to sustainability, and the need to differentiate among water availability and quality, its multiple uses and multiple sources of its scarcity was emphasized. While it is difficult to operationalise the concept of environmental security as an analytical tool or a policy instrument, the need to develop cooperative preventive mechanisms for addressing environmental security and violent conflict is growing.