Environmental Security and American Foreign Policy: A Critical Examination

　

Jon Barnett

 

Abstract

　

In Chapter 3, Jon Barnett undertakes a highly critical examination of American policy pronouncements that have been informed by the notion of environmental security. Barnett's chapter briefly outlines the concept of environmental security and discusses pronouncements on the subject in the U.S. National Security Strategy and from the Department of Defense and the State Department. According to Barnett, these pronouncements conform to a narrow and nation-centered account of environmental security, consistent with political realism. Barnett argues that the United States selectively interprets environmental security as a means to justify traditional approaches to foreign policy. As such, environmental issues have been coopted by agency actors hoping to perpetuate roles and their agencies' traditional activities. Nevertheless, Barnett finds some positive ecological potential in the U.S. government's incorporation of environmental security concerns into American foreign policy. It may be an important step toward greater consideration for the environment in foreign policy making.