Environmental problems, including the recent concern with the `global change' problematique, now occupy a prominent position on international agendas and are recognized as a legitimate concern of peace research. Numerous scholars, policy-makers, and activists have proposed broadening use of the concept security beyond its traditional geopolitical and military focus to take into account environmental threats that seriously jeopardize human well-being. This article examines arguments that have been made both for and against use of the concept `environmental security'. To assess the utility of this approach, the core concept `security' is defined in terms of threats and vulnerabilities. Strategies for enhancing security are distinguished on the basis of whether they are designed (a) to reduce threats or vulnerabilities and (b) to be carried out unilaterally or collectively. Parallels are drawn between the options available to achieve military and environmental security with reference to the Prisoner's Dilemma game, which has been used widely to explain why states seek military security through counterproductive arms buildups rather than through a potentially much less costly strategy of mutual arms reductions. While the logic of the Prisoner's Dilemma did not prevail in the successful negotiations on protecting the ozone layer, it may become a significant factor in international efforts to address the problem of climate change. The larger question for peace research is whether the pursuit of environmental security can be channeled into cooperative arrangements that promote sustainable development rather than self-serving, nationalistic ventures that will heighten international conflict and perpetuate international injustices.
Socialism can be looked upon as a fourth potential strategy for avoiding Garrett Hardin's "tragedy of the commons." The other three are social pressure, regulations, and division of the resource into private sections. In theory, having a common resource used exclusively by a community, rather than by private parties, eliminates the personal profit motive, thereby opening up possibilities for more rational resource management. Exposés on the severe environmental degradation in the former Soviet Union have caused many to conclude that socialism is basically a flawed system in regard to environmental management. We question here whether this is an appropriate conclusion to drawfrom the Soviet experience. The paperfirst reviews some of the writings of Marx and Engels on the relationship between man and the environment and how their dictates were implemented and distorted in the Soviet State by Lenin, Stalin, and later leaders. An assessment of the condition of the environment in the former Soviet Union is offered, with comparisons being drawn to the United States,followed by a look at how the environmentfared even worse as political and market reforms were introduced in thefirst years of the new Russian Federation. The conclusion is drawn that the former Soviet Union does not offer a true test of the potential of socialist systems for environmental stewardship, but that these systems can be diverted toward other ends which take a heavy toll on the environment.
Mention of natural resources usually evokes images of things useful to man that have physical mass, either living or nonliving, such as fossil fuels, minerals, forests, soil, fisheries, and water. This research note focuses on two less conventional and infrequently recognized natural resources that are essential to modern telecommunications: the radio waves, over which information can be transmitted great distances, and the geosynchronous orbit in space, which is the preferred location for communication satellites. By tradition and treaty, both of these resources are common possessions of mankind. Thus, issues pertaining to their use and management parallel some of those that have arisen over other common resources such as the oceans and seabed beyond the jurisdiction of coastal states, the continent of Antarctica, and the moon, the planets, and other celestial bodies.As with most other natural resources, there are limits to the number of users that can be accommodated by the radio waves and the geosynchronous orbit since in both cases overuse and misuse can result in users' interfering with one another. Thus, to maintain the full potential of these resources for transmitting information, it is necessary to regulate the number and types of An earlier version of this paper was presented to the annual meeting of the Southern Regional
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