Environmental crises threaten Pacific Asia security
THE ENVIRONMENT AND SECURITY IN PACIFIC ASAI (ADELPHI PAPER 319) Alan Dupont London: Oxford University Press/ International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1998; 94pp. $US25
Environmental security is still a fairly new concept in security and environmental literature. Its meaning and the policy prescriptions it engenders are contested. One major school of thought defines environmental security in terms of the potential for conflict to arise from environmental degradation and resource scarcity. This version of the environmental security project, which informs this study, seeks to understand better the dynamics of this relationship and to identify the kinds of environmental degradation which might disrupt national, regional or even global security and how they might do so. To date, much of the case study work has been undertaken by academics in the US and Canada. Alan Dupont's work on Southeast and Northeast Asia (Pacific Asia) ensures that there is now a strong Australian contribution to this literature. Dupont's argument is twofold: first, that ecological pressure is having a discernible impact on regional security and inter-state relations but, second, that the relationship is nevertheless a complex one. His study provides a wealth of disturbing facts and figures which illuminate the extent of environmental decline in the region and the increasing transboundary nature of environmental problems. The chapters address, in turn, problems of pollution, population growth and movement, energy scarcity (and maritime disputes over access to hydrocarbon reserves), food and water scarcity. None of the countries in Pacific Asia are exempt. As demonstrated, all are beset by ecological and resource problems of their own making and through the transboundary impact of environmental degradation. This monograph argues that few of these problems will lead directly or inevitably to conflict but that almost all are caught up with future national and regional economic security and many may well create or heighten tensions within countries or between neighbouring states. Dupont shows how the relationship between environmental and resource decline, on the one hand, and inter-state tension or even conflict, on the other, relies on a complicated mix of factors. Scarcity of resources (food, water, energy) is not simply a biophysical problem. It arises frequently through poor environmental practices which are in turn encouraged or exacerbated by political and economic choices made by governments. The cases examined here suggest that the kinds of environment or resource problems which are most likely to result in tensions, conflict or threats to regional security are those which have a maritime dimension. Indeed, disputes have already arisen over competing maritime boundaries, where energy resources are important, and over access to depleted fishing grounds. In neither case are these isolated incidents as Dupont shows. Yet the overall conclusion is that while there is no compelling case for arguing that environmental problems are a primary cause of conflict, it is equally the case that many tensions have environmental sources. Dupont's purpose here is to examine the relationship between environ- mental decline and security threats in Pacific Asia. It is not to examine what should then be done. Yet that is a fundamental question, not only for those who have carriage of security policy but for all policy-makers. This monograph touches on two policy implications. The first, almost in passing, is that environmental protection and sustainable development may be crucial to conflict prevention. This, of course, might raise some difficulties for those whose orientation is to meeting traditional forms of security threat. The second policy implication, alluded to throughout the study and addressed in more detail in the conclusion, is that environmental degradation is less likely to be a factor in conflict or threats to state security (human security is less of a concern here) when there are mechanisms for confidence building, dispute resolution and cooperation among regional states. This monograph is important not simply for its wide-ranging, succinct and up-to-date coverage of regional environmental degradation but for its message that environmental problems should be taken seriously by security planners. Whether they will do so in a way that addresses the causes of environmental degradation, rather than the symptoms of tension and conflict that might result, is another matter. In this light, perhaps the most telling comment in this monograph is that regional efforts to combat environmental degradation "fall far short of what is required"; this applies equally whether one's primary concern is for environmental security, human security or for a more traditional security agenda. Dr Lorraine Elliott Political Science, Faculty of Arts