There has been a lot of discussion of the impact that the environment has on security. We have seen the destruction of typhoons, hurricanes, tidal waves and earthquakes completely destroy economic and physical security in numerous countries just over the past 2 years. Then there is warfighting over resources whether it be land (Lebensraum), oil reserves, or control over fresh water sources. All familiar topics, but recently the Economist covered a new angle: disruption of an ecological system (see article here). The gigantic echizen jellyfish, which can be up to 2 meters across and weigh 200 kilos, has experienced a boom in population and for unknown environmental reasons has been pushed closer to Japan’s shores than normal. These big-ass jellies cause fishermen problems by “breaking nets and gear, crushing the fish catch or spoiling it with poisonous tentacles.” The Economist notes that this jellyfish issue has become one more problem in Sino-Japanese relations.
Granted, I don’t think Japan will start bombing China anytime soon over these monster jellyfish, but I found it interesting that changes in ecology could result in political confrontation. I would be interesting in hearing other historical examples out there, if any of our readers know any. Obviously herd migrations in pre-modern nomadic societies would cause clashes, but I am wondering if there ever was any ecological situation causing ire between two modern states? Any takers?
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COMMENTS / 12 COMMENTS
Chirol added these pithy words on 09 Dec 05 at 10:40 pmOne minor thing. The correct German is Lebensraum. The capital letter is necessary to denote a noun in German =) This is your friendly German teacher signing off… =)
Kenneth added these pithy words on 09 Dec 05 at 11:38 pmRobert D. Kaplan once wrote that “ecological degradation is the security issue of the twenty-first century” and I agree with him. Kaplan alludes to the possibility of Turkey’s political empowerment within the Middle East by virtue of its easy access to drinkable water and the intensification of tribal conflict within Africa and elsewhere in the third world. Jared Diamond alluded to Haiti and Rwanda in the early nineties as examples of Malthusian conditions breeding Hobbesian violence but I don’t know the details. That’s all for now.
Curzon added these pithy words on 09 Dec 05 at 11:58 pmThis is what you’re looking for: Inventory of Conflict and Environment. See that link or google that term for lots of information on this subject.
Curzon’s turn:
1.) Rwanda for sure, at least according to Jared Diamond and many others.
2.) Kaplan/Kenneth’s note about Turkey’s power over the Middle East is also true for India and Bangladesh.
scott added these pithy words on 10 Dec 05 at 12:32 amI’m going to go out on a limb and say no, there are no military conflicts caused by environment degradation. Fighting over resources, sure, but I got bit by one of those darn jelly-fish in Israel this summer and although I heard a few comic statements about a possible Arab jelly-fish plot, most of my anger was directed at the jelly-fish itself.
I also visited Turkey this summer and I think its power is going to come from its military and its booming economy.
Israel now has low cost de-salination plants providing drinking water to Tel-Aviv. They are now building state of the art de-salination plants in Saudi Arabia (through companies in other countries of course.) Technology will solve the water problem.
sun bin added these pithy words on 10 Dec 05 at 1:12 amsend all of them to China, jellyfish makes a delicious dish :)
sun bin added these pithy words on 10 Dec 05 at 1:28 amI recall I learned that the emergence of big animal (esp carnivorous, jellyfish is sort of carnivorous, eating plancktons) is a sign of improvement in environment, not dergadation? (because the food chain need to imporve significantly for the numbers at the top to multiply).
as indicated by the economist article, one of the reasons is overfishing (less competitor in planckton eater). but i thought the biggest consumers of planckton are the poor whales.
perhaps now we have a good reason to find support in Japan to stop the stupid whaling under the names of scientific research.
sun bin added these pithy words on 10 Dec 05 at 1:53 amfrom the timeonline link above
??In the meantime locals are making the best of it — rather than just complaining about jellyfish they are eating them.
Jellyfish are an unusual ingredient of Japanese cuisine but are much more prized in China. Coastal communities are doing their best to promote jellyfish as a novelty food, sold dried and salted.
Students in Obama have managed to turn them into tofu, and jellyfish collagen is reported to be beneficial to the skin.??
nykrindc added these pithy words on 10 Dec 05 at 5:17 amNigeria would probably be the best example. Here nomadic Islamic tribes move into Christian farmland with their cattle after a drought devastating the region and raising tensions between different tribal and religious groups necesitating the intervention of the federal government. In like manner, Shell, BP, and other oil companies drill in the Niger Delta causing grave environmental damage to fishing villages, farmland and fresh water sources, people in turn blame the federal government. Eventually, as these grievances go unanswered, they begin calling for partition of the country. You get Biafran separatists, as has been reported in the news recently.
nykrindc added these pithy words on 10 Dec 05 at 5:42 amLooking at environmental degradation and its role in security analysis raises the question of security for whom. Traditionally, it has been the security of the state. Post Cold War, the emphasis shifted to Human security.
Ron Patterson added these pithy words on 11 Dec 05 at 1:46 amNow I know what I saw in Penglai in Shandong province this summer. Biggest damn jelly I have ever seen, thought it was a piece of plastic at first. Environmental wars are beginning, populations forced to move because of environmental degradation. Very scary!!
