Overview of the Environmental Security Debate Essay

Overview of the Environmental Security Debate - Essay Example The essay "Overview of the Environmental Security Debate" talks about the improving the wellbeing of the environment by including the notion of environmental security to national security policies. The weakening significance of superpower conflict in the past decade has provided an impetus to the emergence of flexibility in the notions of national security. Previously constructed to a set of external military dangers, the concept nowadays frequently emphasizes the importance of concerns such as environmental protection, economic progress, and global sustainability. Environmental security is labeled as a relevant subject matter in international affairs and it is being exploited to define the motives of countries under an array of contexts. For instance, the Kyoto agreement which curtails global greenhouse gasses has been disputed and defended on the basis of its influence on America’s national security. Warren Christopher, the former Secretary of State, proclaimed in his 1996 speech at Stanford University the resolution of the Clinton administration â€Å"to put environmental issues where they belong: in the mainstream of American foreign policy†. Subsequently, President Clinton has branded environmental security as one of the many concerns that America will be confronting in the contemporary times. The fundamental concept of environmental security signifies an attempt to put more emphasis on the issues of environmental degradation through openly fastening them to previous military notions of security.