This Week at ISN

6 - 10 August 2012 This week we embark on the third and final installment of our Editorial Plan, where over the next 14 weeks, we will look at a collection of security-related issues in the context of the wide-ranging structural changes and shifting power dynamics occuring throughout the globe. We begin this week by analyzing the interconnections between climate change and security.

Cimate Change and Security

Ideologies Behind 'Climate Wars'
06 Aug 2012 / Special Feature

Despite numerous UN-led initiatives and national-level pronouncements, the climate change debate rumbles on. In conjunction with our partners at the Council on Foreign Relations, we present an overview of the historical and political origins of this particular debate. More Securitizing Climate Change: Expectations and Concerns
07 Aug 2012 / Special Feature

Climate change is increasingly understood as a significant threat to national and global security. But while the securitization of climate change may have raised hopes of finding a more effective response, it has also generated concerns that environmental problems are becoming increasingly militarized, argues Rafaela Rodrigues de Brito. More Transnational Climate Policy Who's Responsible, What's Doable in a Security-Conscious World?
08 Aug 2012 / Special Feature

Attempts at global climate governance have failed to deliver desired results, or so argues Jason Blackstock in this video presentation. He outlines the lessons learned from failed climate negotiation in the past and identifies possible ways forward in the future. More Climate Change as a Security Threat Sub-Saharan Africa
09 Aug 2012 / Special Feature

Climate change has the potential to threaten the security of many African states and societies. Our partners at the ISS outline how deteriorating environmental conditions contribute to migratory flows that, in turn, cause political tensions and instability in host countries. More Inside US Climate Security Policy
10 Aug 2012 / Podcast

The US security establishment continues to formulate responses to the problems associated with global climate change. However, in this podcast Geoffrey D Dabelko argues that policymakers have overlooked the impact that global warming is having on United States territory. More

Security Watch
Nuclear Mirage? Assessing Civilian Nuclear Programs Across the Middle East
06 Aug 2012

Many states across the Middle East have embarked upon civilian nuclear projects. While Iran is widely regarded as the catalyst for this development, Yoel Guzansky and Gallian Lindenstrauss suggest that the

regions states are more concerned with developing programs that benefit their people than fending off a looming security challenge. More European Energy Security: Southern Gas Corridor On the Move
07 Aug 2012

The Southern Gas Corridor project is set to come online by 2018, thereby easing Europes reliance on energy imports from Russia. David Koranyi and our partners at the Atlantic Council identify the coming peak in Azeri oil production and a buoyant European gas market as key factors in the recent acceleration of developments. More Are We Facing Another Global Food Price Crisis?
08 Aug 2012

Two years of drought in the US has led to an increase in global food prices. Of particular concern, argues Rob Bailey, is a 50 per cent rise in wheat prices, a development that may impact the stability of the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan. More India's 'Catch-22' Situation in Syria
09 Aug 2012

India was initially reluctant to condemn the Syrian regimes crackdown on internal political unrest. Its recent change of heart, argues Rupak Borah, reflects an evolving realization on New Delhis part it cannot avoid making tough political decisions if it hopes to have a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. More China's Coercive Economic Diplomacy A New and Worrying Trend
10 Aug 2012

China is increasingly applying economic pressure in order to influence or change other states' economic policies. Bonnie Glaser suggests that such tactics may represent the maturation of Beijings power within the international economic system. More

ISN Blog
Revive the Airborne Laser?
06 Aug 2012

The US House Armed Services Committee is reconsidering the return of the United States Air Forces Airborne Laser aircraft to operational readiness. The aircrafts roles are set to expand beyond testing and technology development, to include countering rapidly evolving security threats, writes Robert Gard. More Can China's 'Deal of the Century' Save Congo?
07 Aug 2012

Chinas $6 billion resources for infrastructure agreements with the Democratic Republic of Congo represents a significant opportunity to improve the economic well-being of this war-torn and impoverished state. Nathan William Meyer writes that it may also lead to further battles for control of the DRCs still untouched resource wealth. More The Arab Spring and Monarchies: Could Morocco Lead the Way?
08 Aug 2012

Aymane Saidi considers the impact of the Arab Spring on recent political reform efforts in Morocco, and how the monarchy came under pressure from internal and external factors when implementing change. More The Guardian of Pakistan's Shia
09 Aug 2012

Violence against Pakistans Shia minority is on the rise. The widely-held perception that Iran is the global leader of the Shia community may pique Tehrans interest in their plight, a move that will likely complicate Iranian-Pakistani relations, argues Alex Vatanka. More Korea-Japan: Time for Outside Mediation?
10 August 2012

South Koreas and Japans longstanding and deep-seated mistrust of each other complicates the United States diplomatic relations with its two Northeast Asian allies. Currently, election-year politicking is combining with historical memory to further undermine diplomatic ties, argues Ralph Cossa. More

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