The Environment as a National Security Issue

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Matthew
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
National Security ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Security Issue ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Social Anxieties ◽  
Entire World ◽  
State Of The Environment

In 1994 a young journalist with a sharp eye for social anxieties and a flair for dramatic prose wrote an article that described environmental change as “the national security issue of the early 21st century.” Robert Kaplan's thesis in “The Coming Anarchy” is fetchingly simple: combine weak political systems, burgeoning urban populations, grinding poverty, and a flood of cheap weapons, and society becomes highly volatile. This lethal mixture, Kaplan suggests, already is generating high levels of violence in West Africa; soon it will affect the rest of the planet. This will happen because at the root of social collapse in West Africa is environmental degradation—a problem the entire world is experiencing. The pathways to chaos may differ from one place to the next, but all of humankind is being pushed along them. The state of the environment, Kaplan concludes, has become a matter of national security.

scholarly journals The Contemporary Countries in The Conditions of Migratory Multiculturalism

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-205
Author(s):  
Manol Stanin
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
The Early 21St Century

Abstract One of the characteristics in the early 21st century is the existence of different in intensities and content migration waves. This confronts the countries at a range of challenges. On one side, countries should protect the rights, freedoms and interests of its citizens, on the other - rights, freedoms and interests of persons, who form migratory pressure and are threatening the national security. In order to be guaranteed the rights, freedoms and interests, it is necessary first to be ensured a security, which means limiting the rights of persons, who represent a threat to the national security. The problems are further exacerbated by the enforced coexistence of different cultures with values different from those of the citizens in the respective countries, which are reflected in the current legal order. This, in turn, means a normative impossibility for the institutionalization of these values and the adoption of legislative consensual solutions, applicable as for the time of their stay in the respective countries, as well as in their eventual integration.

scholarly journals DA INFORMALIDADE AO CIRCUITO INFERIOR: UM ESTUDO SOBRE A ECONOMIA URBANA EM GANA NO SÉCULO XXI

GEOgraphia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (50) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kauê Lopes dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Third World ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Urban Economy ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Mots Clés ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Different Levels

Desenvolvidos nos anos 1970, os conceitos de informalidade e circuito inferior – criados, respectivamente, pelo antropólogo britânico Keith Hart e pelo geógrafo brasileiro Milton Santos – integravam teorias que tinham por objetivo interpretar a economia urbana no Sul Global, entendido na época como Terceiro Mundo. Partindo das contribuições desses autores, este artigo busca analisar a organização da economia urbana contemporânea de Gana, país localizado na África Ocidental. Os dados quantitativos e qualitativos utilizados neste estudo foram obtidos por meio de fontes secundárias (livros, artigos e relatórios setoriais) e primárias (entrevistas semiestruturadas, descrição densa e registros da paisagem conduzidos entre 2013 e 2016), as quais permitiram não apenas reiterar o vigor interpretativo das proposições de Hart e Santos como também revelar o dinamismo contemporâneo da economia urbana do país em questão, composto por atividades que operam em múltiplas escalas geográficas, segundo diferentes níveis de organização e capitalização.  Palavras-chave: economia urbana; informalidade; circuito inferior; urbanização africana; Sul Global FROM INFORMALITY TO THE LOWER CIRCUIT: A STUDY ON GHANA’S URBAN ECONOMY IN THE EARLY 21ST CENTURY AbstRact: Developed in the 1970s, the concepts of informality and lower circuit – created respectively by the British anthropologist Keith Hart and by the Brazilian geographer Milton Santos – integrated theories aimed at interpreting the urban economy of countries that belonged to the so-called Third World. Based on the contributions of these authors, this article seeks to analyze the organization of the contemporary urban economy of Ghana, a country located in West Africa. The quantitative and qualitative data used in this study were obtained from secondary sources (books, articles and sectoral reports) and primary ones (semi-structured interviews, dense description and landscape records), which allowed not only to reiterate the vigor of Hart (1973) and Santos' (1975) propositions as well as revealing the contemporary dynamics of the urban economy of the studied country, composed of activities that operate on multiple geographical scales, according to different levels of organization and invested capital. Keywords: urban economy; informality; lower circuit; African urbanization; Global South DE L’INFORMALITE AU CIRCUIT INFERIEUR: UNE ETUDE SUR L’ECONOMIE URBAINE DU GHANA AU DEBUT DU 21E SIECLE Résumé: Développés dans les années 1970, les concepts d'informalité et de circuit inférieur - créés respectivement par l'anthropologue britannique Keith Hart et par le géographe brésilien Milton Santos - ont intégré des théories visant à interpréter l'économie urbaine dans des pays appartenant à la soi-disant Troisième Monde. À partir des contributions de ces auteurs, cet article cherche à analyser l'organisation de l'économie urbaine contemporaine du Ghana, un pays situé en Afrique de l'Ouest. Les informations quantitatives et qualitatives utilisées dans cette étude ont été obtenues à partir de sources secondaires (livres, articles et rapports sectoriels) et primaires (entretiens semi-structurés, description dense et fiches paysagères), qui ont permis non seulement de réitérer la vigueur de Hart (1973 ) et Santos (1975) ainsi que de révéler la dynamique contemporaine de l'économie urbaine du pays étudié, composée d'activités qui opèrent à multiples échelles géographiques, selon différents niveaux d'organisation et de capital investi. Mots clés: économie urbaine; informalité; circuit inférieur; L'urbanisation africaine; Sud global

Some Social Implications of Military Service and the Reserves System in Israel

1974 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 262-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Horowitz ◽  
Baruch Kimmerling
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Competing Values ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Security Issue ◽  
Military Institutions ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Impact

An uneasy relationship between the army and the society within which it operates is a situation characteristic of most contemporary, relatively developed countries. The major tensions crystallize around three foci: first, the incompatibility between the continuous decline in the centrality and salience of the national security issue and the increased allocation of human andmaterial resources to the military institutions. Second, the societal dilemma between an ideology which advocates the total segregation of the army from the other institutional spheres and the tendencies towards overt or latent role expansion of the military system. Third, the decline of military values and roles as a result of the impact of competing values. As a result of these tensions, the balanced exchange between the social system and the military sub-system tends to be disturbed. The military is often geared to maintaining a level of national security which requires a commitment of resources to this function exceeding the actual input of such resources. Consequently, the performance of the military is often impaired, and the government comes under pressure to increase military spending. Our paper deals with two democratic political systems which, to a considerable extent, avoided this kind of tension between the society at large and its military institutions. The comparison will be between Israel and Switzerland, with the emphasis on the former. The comparison will be made in reference to specific points relevant to the problems under study and will not be a general comparison of the two systems.

scholarly journals Security for Enhancing Peace and Stability in Changing Context of Nepal

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Bishnu Raj Upreti
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Social Services ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Resource Scarcity ◽  
Security Issue ◽  
Enabling Environment ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
The World

The world is facing new security challenges in 21st century that has forced global and national security actors to think differently. Unconventional security issues such as resource scarcity, climate change effects, livelihood insecurity, environmental insecurity, food and water insecurity, health insecurity, natural calamities and disasters, pandemic diseases, etc. are now integral part of security going beyond conventional security issue of protecting sovereignty and territory of the state. Further, Nepal has also specific geopolitical and geo-strategic issues and challenges emerged from the Sino-Indian dynamics. Global economic and strategic power is shifting from US to China and therefore China will be most influential in the world order in coming few decades. Similarly, India is also rapidly expanding its influence in global and regional sphere. Hence, small countries like Nepal will have both negative and potentially positive efforts (economically, politically, strategically) to deal in the changing global order (protecting national interests in a situation of aggressive approaches of old and emerging powers) in the context of China-India revelry. As Nepal is having rapid change in political and strategic sphere advancement of security sector is eminent. However, dealing with new security challenges requires enabling environment (favourable legal-regulatory provisions, supportive institutional arrangement, required resources, investing in capacity development especially in education and research, developing sound intelligence and integrating security policy with international relations, economic development and social services). Hence, it is essential to expand security discourse and engage citizen to develop ownership, strengthen the National Security Council, create enabling environment (developing relevant policy and strategies, promulgation of laws and development of rules and procedures, creating responsive institutional mechanisms, developing capabilities, making required resources available, parliamentary oversight and monitoring provisions, invest in security research and education) to address emerging new security challenges of the 21st century.

China as Chimney of the World

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Malm
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Fossil Energy ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Global Capital ◽  
Mobile Capital ◽  
The World ◽  
New Hypothesis ◽  
The Early 21St Century

What has caused the early 21st-century emissions explosion in China? Driving a global explosion, it appears to stand in some relation to processes of globalization, but these links have mostly remained unexplored. This article revisits some established frameworks for understanding the connection between globalization and environmental degradation and argues that they are insufficient for explaining the Chinese explosion. A new hypothesis is outlined, called “the fossil capital hypothesis.” It proposes that globally mobile capital will tend to relocate production to countries with cheap and disciplined labor, but only through the accelerated consumption of fossil energy. Via three specified “effects,” the inflow of global capital will therefore set off massive increases in CO2 emissions. The hypothesis is applied in a brief analysis of developments in China between 2001 and 2008, and in other Asian countries after the Chinese strike wave in 2010.

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