Research Catalog

Title

Fighting for survival : environmental decline, social conflict, and the new age of insecurity / Michael Renner.

Author

Renner, Michael, 1957-

Publication

New York : Norton, ©1996.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

239 pages : illustrations; 21 cm.

Summary

In the aftermath of the Cold War, it has become clear to citizens everywhere that it is not the march of armies that is the clearest threat to peace and stability but rather the disaster of pervasive resource loss, refugees who are forced across borders, and social instability that makes war primarily an action within, rather than between, states. Renner argues that global leaders and citizens must find a new sense of mission and destiny, and must reclaim the security terminology from war-making institutions. He shows that social, economic, and environmental stresses and pressures on societies worldwide call for a new definition of security, and hence for a new set of priorities. Poverty, unequal distribution of land, and the degradation of ecosystems are among the most pressing issues undermining security. Soldiers and tanks are at best irrelevant and at worst an obstacle to solving such problems. An understanding of security that fits today's world will require a shift from conflicts of national security to cooperation for global security. Instead of defense of the status quo, sustainable security calls for change and adaption, instead of "green-helmet" intervention forces, we will need to transform war-making institutions and create new priorities for sustainable development.

Series Statement

Worldwatch environmental alert series

Uniform Title

Worldwatch environmental alert series.

Subject

• Environmental degradation > Social aspects
• Violence > Environmental aspects
• Social ecology
• Economic security
• Urban violence > Environmental aspects
• Social Environment
• human ecology
• Economic security
• Environmental degradation > Social aspects
• Social ecology
• Violence > Environmental aspects
• Umweltschaden
• Sozialer Konflikt
• Soziale Sicherheit
• Écologie humaine
• Sécurité économique
• Pollution > Aspect social

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

ch. 1. Transformation of security -- pt. 1. Sources of stress -- ch. 2. Environmental stress -- ch. 3. Conflict over the environment -- ch. 4. Inequality and insecurity -- ch. 5. People on the move -- ch. 6. Vicious circles: two case studies -- pt. 2. Security in the twenty-first century -- ch. 7. Human security policy -- ch. 8. Enhancing international peace capacity -- ch. 9. Human security budget -- ch. 10. Global partnership for human security?

ISBN

• 039303996X
• 9780393039962
• 0393315681
• 9780393315684

LCCN

96232410

OCLC

• ocm35906639
• 35906639
• SCSB-2122677

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library