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This Week in an Expanding China: Energy, Climate and Security
The spotlight has been on China this week, with the U.S. visit from China’s soon-to-be President raising familiar, perennial questions between the two countries, ranging from currency manipulation to human rights (including China’s veto of a recent UN Security Council resolution supporting an Arab League plan to remove Syria’s President from power). There has also been significant scholarly and journalistic attention paid to China’s impact on environmental, energy and climate security, in Asia and beyond. Of particular interest is the geographic expansion of China’s foreign policy interests, and the implications of that expansion. Below is a brief summary of some of the more interesting articles that emerged over the past few days. (more…)
General Dempsey: Net Zero Energy Consumption Saves Soldiers’ Lives
General Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday on a range of issues regarding the Defense Department’s 2013 budget request, including future planning on operational energy (i.e. the strategic use of energy resources on the battlefield). At around 2:58:11 of the video, he discusses the security benefits of energy efficiency for the military, in terms of lives saved and operational agility, stating: (more…)
Defense Science Board Report on Climate Change and Security: List of Recommendations
In the 2012 U.S. State of the Union address, President Obama highlighted the role of the military in developing clean energy. This was a welcome mention. Building off of that, the military may also play a role in mitigating the risks of climate change. As we highlighted previously, late last year the Defense Science Board Task Force on Trends and Implications of Climate Change for National and International Security released a report outlining what the national security community could do to better prepare for and integrate the risks of climate change into operations and objectives. It’s a long, but very interesting list, which is likely to be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Defense in the coming months. Below is a summary of the recommendations, found on pages xvi – xxii. For the full report, click here.
New Report: The United States, the South China Sea, Natural Resources and Climate Change
After a long transition, and winter break (a strange one, to be sure – the daffodils here in DC started to emerge yesterday, and today it’s snowing…), we’re back.
And what better post-break gift than a new report from the Center for a New American Security? “Cooperation from Strength: The United States, China and the South China Sea” is a good one. You should read the whole thing. But given our focus on climate and security, we’re going to briefly highlight the section on climate change in Will Rogers’ chapter “The Role of Natural Resources in the South China Sea.” (more…)