Ellen Laipson, the Stimson Center’s President and CEO, recently moderated a discussion with Hon. Sherri Goodman, Senior Vice President, CNA and Richard Cronin, Director of Stimson’s Southeast Asia Program, on the evolution of environmental issues as an increasingly important part of human and national security. Sherri Goodman’s account of her career in many ways parallels the evolution of the global security landscape. She started at the Senate Arms Services Committee with a focus on nuclear weapons and arms control during the Cold War, led the charge to broaden the definition of national security through her work as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Environmental Security (1993-2001). As she describes the transition, she went “from weapons to waste.” She has continued to lead in advancing understanding of environmental security risks as Senior Vice President at CNA, where in 2007 she led the development of the Military Advisory Board’s groundbreaking report, “National Security and the Threat of Climate Change.”
The discussion was part of a series hosted by the Stimson Center. A full video is available on the Stimson Center website, and also includes important points on environmental security in the Mekong region from Richard Cronin. For more on Stimson’s work on the environment-security nexus, see a list of some of their excellent reports below.
Connecting the Drops: An Indus Basin Roadmap for Cross-Border Water Research and Policy Coordination
Indian Ocean Rising: Maritime Security and Policy Challenges
Troubled Waters: Climate Change, Hydropolitics, and Transboundary Resources
Water Challenges and Cooperative Response in the Middle East and North Africa
