The Environment-conflict Nexus ― Climate Change and the Emergent National Security Landscape

The aim of this book is to demonstrate how environmental factors have caused an evolution in the landscape of national security since the end of the Cold War. Through relevant case studies, the scope of the problem on the national security landscape due to environmental stressors is illuminated, examined, and synthesized with climate-related data. Human variables such as governance, GDP, and vulnerability are taken into account, and are compared against environmental factors to more accurately determine the causative agents of regional conflicts which threaten national security. These case studies comprise the majority of the text, and they show how individual conflicts are uniquely influenced by environmental stress with variations from situation to situation. This book will be of interest to government and military professionals, and may serve as a resource for college courses in the areas of military geography, international affairs, and sustainability studies.

Dr. Francis A. Galgano is an Associate Professor and the founding Chair of the Department of Geography and the Environment at Villanova University. Dr. Galgano conducts research in the field of geography and national security affairs, especially in the fields of environmental security, governance, and effective sovereignty. Specifically, he examines the relationship between environmental change and violent conflict. Dr. Galgano teaches related courses at Villanova such as the Geography of National Security, Sustainability Studies, Medical Geography, Land Use Planning, and Humanitarian Development and Sustainability. He has published five books, three physical geography study guides, and more than thirty professional articles focused on geographic, environmental, and military subjects.