澳门六合彩

In the hierarchy of global and national security challenges, climate change comes out near the top, said a panel of distinguished defense, diplomacy, and intelligence leaders at 澳门六合彩 on聽November 17.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e a military commander and you鈥檙e told to look at security threats across a broad spectrum, clearly a North Korea nuclear weapon is a problem,鈥� said retired U.S. Navy Admiral Samuel Locklear III, who last served as head of U.S Pacific command which includes responsibility for East and South Asia. 鈥淏ut in the long run, it鈥檚 my sense that the nexus of humanity and the things that are happening in the environment will have a significant impact on the security of not only our nation but our friends and our allies and all the nations of the world.鈥�

Locklear spoke alongside Sherri Goodman, Eric Schwartz, Ellen Laipson, and Caitlin Werrell for the launch of聽, a report produced by the Washington DC-based聽 in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, the Center for a New American Security, and the University of Oxford.

The report comes at a time when the security implications of climate change are being discussed by a聽聽and the United States has announced a 鈥溾�� toward the Asia-Pacific, which includes more concerted efforts to increase diplomatic engagement and trade.

According to Werrell, the co-founder and director of the Center for Climate and Security, the report is a strategic 鈥渞oadmap鈥� for how the U.S. can address climate change risks within this new outlook.

A Region Passed Over?

The world has entered a period of 鈥渦nprecedented global change鈥� bringing with it a plethora of new challenges and opportunities, says the report, authored by security and climate experts from academia, government, and think tanks.

鈥淭hese changes are prompting U.S. policymakers, decision-makers, and military planners to better understand how climate changes are altering the Asia-Pacific security environment and to reevaluate and adjust our long-term 鈥榳hole of government鈥� strategic priorities and approaches in the region,鈥� writes Locklear in the forward.

The Asia-Pacific is vulnerable to the effects of climate change via rising seas, growing coastal populations, shrinking glaciers, and water insecurity.

Joshua Busby and Nisha Krishnan of the University of Texas at Austin write in their chapter that the region has been given short shrift.

Asia routinely has the most people affected by climate-related disasters in the world, including more than 1.4 million in China in the last decade. But U.S. development and humanitarian aid is disproportionately directed toward Africa. A similar phenomenon plays out in research and policy, in part thanks to a focus on addressing climate-related armed conflict.

鈥淭hough that may have ample justification, the relative neglect of Asia鈥檚 particular vulnerability to climate security consequences and the patterns of resource allocation deserve more treatment in the future,鈥� Busby and Krishnan write. (See the Strauss Center鈥檚 program on聽聽for more on the team鈥檚 work.)

Blunting the Edge of Natural Disasters

In this respect,聽finding ways to reduce the risk of natural disasters is critical, said Eric Schwartz, dean of the University of Minnesota鈥檚 Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs and former assistant secretary of state for population, refugees, and migration.

Governments have been more committed to creating national resilience plans and creating a framework for disaster preparedness. Bangladesh has reduced the number of fatalities from major cyclones from hundreds of thousands to a tiny fraction of that through a concerted effort to build an聽, said Locklear.

But conditions are worsening and Bangladesh is the exception, not the rule. U.S. support for disaster risk reduction linked to climate adaptation 鈥渨ould be seizing a very valuable national security opportunity,鈥� said Schwartz, who helped lead the UN response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

, which devastated the Philippines in 2013, was an example of the importance of American 鈥渟oft power鈥� in action, writes the聽鈥檚 Andrew Holland in his chapter. More than 13,000 U.S. seamen and marines responded to the disaster, and that commitment meant a great deal to an important ally.

Vietnam, a prospective U.S. ally, could lose聽聽to sea-level rise if adaptation measures are not taken, writes Marcus D. King of George Washington University. It鈥檚 also embroiled in a dangerous stand-off over access to natural resources in the South China Sea with China and is heavily reliant on off-shore fisheries for food. U.S. assistance in helping Vietnam adapt to climate change, maintain the viability of its fisheries, and enhance its coast guard capabilities could therefore be strategically prudent.

鈥淭he United States Is Going to Be Involved鈥�

鈥淲hile efforts to fully pivot to the Asia-Pacific region have been slowed by growing violence in the Middle East and North Africa and diplomatic crises with Russia, military and diplomatic strategists well understand the long-term economic and military importance of fully engaging with our partners in the Asia-Pacific Region,鈥� writes Nancy E. Brune, executive director of the聽, a non-profit think tank based in Nevada. 鈥淐ritical to our mutual success is our ability to build capacity among our allies in the region to prepare for and respond to the changing external threat environment, which consists of both kinetic and non-kinetic threats.鈥�

The panelists emphasized the need for greater collaboration by the United States with its partner countries around research on climate change and adapting to and mitigating its effects.

鈥淓nvironmental issues are sort of universal, shared concerns and become an opportunity, I think, for public diplomacy as well as more concrete forms of cooperation,鈥� said Ellen Laipson, distinguished fellow and president emeritus of聽聽and former vice chair of the National Intelligence Council.

Non-government environmental and scientific cooperation may even help encourage more openness in otherwise closed societies.

鈥淭ransparency is a great thing,鈥� said Sherri Goodman, president and chief executive officer of the聽聽and former deputy undersecretary of defense for environmental security. 鈥淣ot just a sensor on an embassy, but I think we鈥檙e going to see ocean sensors providing all sorts of data鈥 think that鈥檚 going to be able to produce whole new ways of doing business and whole new methods of citizenry demanding responsible resilient action from their governments.鈥�

The bottom-line as to why these issues are important to national security, said Schwartz, is 鈥渢he United States is going to be engaged.鈥�

鈥淚f there are floods in Pakistan and displacement that compounds displacement as a result of internal conflict,聽, the United States is going to be involved,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd we鈥檙e going to be involved 鈥� at least over the next several decades 鈥� to a greater extent than any other government in the world. So not only do we have to consider these national security challenges in terms of the way other governments consider them, but we also have to consider them in terms of the leadership responsibilities that we will take on.鈥�

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Photo Credit:聽, courtesy of flickr user Claudio Accheri.

Written by Schuyler Null and Deepshri Mathur.