Introduction and Overview

Abstract

Environmental security has, over the last decade, emerged as a topic of discussion and vibrant debate. Largely in response to the end of the Cold War, the termination of superpower rivalry, and the explosion of nationalisms, the academic and policy communities have sought to revise their conceptions of security to include non-military threats and non-state actors, so as to more effectively explore and understand underlying issues that impact new (international) relationships. In keeping with this conceptual shift, the natural environment, and anthropogenic alterations of it, have been identified as important elements in the relations among states, communities, and individuals.