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International Conference on Environmental Diplomacy and Security
an article by Rebecca Pincus
The Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security (IEDS) is a
new institution at the University of Vermont dedicated to working on
issues of environment, community, development, and conflict. 
click on photo to enlarge
Our inaugural conference will be held in Burlington, VT October 21-23, 2011.
Environmental issues are often framed as a source of conflict in
terms of resource scarcity. Yet they tend to be relegated as "low
politics," in the larger scheme of international relations. This
conference aims to consider ways by which environmental issues can be
raised to "high politics of war and peace" to ensure ecological,
economic and social sustainability.
The conference is the
inaugural event of a new research and practice center on the emerging
discipline of environmental diplomacy and security at the University of
Vermont. The conference is broadly arranged around 5 short symposia,
each of which is targeted towards developing a product for research and
educational purposes. These "products" can range from edited volumes to
new educational web sites to video documentaries.
Topics have
been chosen based on the relevance of these efforts to mandate of the
institute’s three thematic areas: a) Borderlands b) Pragmatic Peace and
c) Resource Values.
Conference symposia will focus on the following themes:
A) Polar Diplomacy: Energy, the Environment and International Security
B) The Social Ecology of Borders: Environmental Regionalism and Globalization
C) Beyond African “Exceptionalism”: Ecological approaches to improving the African Union
D) Bridging Eurasia: Energy Infrastructure, Conservation and Culture
E) Chemical Diplomacy: Negotiating Treaties around Hazardous Pollutants
In addition, one afternoon will be spent cruising Lake
Champlain, with speakers and discussion focusing on Vermont-specific
issues including cross-border management of the Lake Champlain basin,
energy infrastructure, and issues related to Vermont's Abenaki tribal
groups. Registration is available here. (For more information, please email rpincus1@uvm.edu.)
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
What is the relation between the environment and peace?
Thematic forum(s) in which this article is being discussed:
ECOLOGY - ECOLOGIE
LATEST READER COMMENT:
One
way to understand the relation between environment and peace is to turn
the question on its head and ask what is the relation between the
environment and the culture of war. Here is what I say in my book The History of the Culture of War :
The
exploitation of the culture of war involves not only exploitation of
people, but also exploitation of the environment. In recent years
everyone has become more aware of the dangers of environmental
pollution, with special attention to carbon emissions which have
increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and resulted in global warming.
This is also related to the loss of the world's forests which redress
the problem by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Insufficient
attention has been paid, however, to the great environmental
destruction and pollution caused by military activity.
Historically, military-related activity has been one of the primary causes of deforestation.. . ...more.
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This report was posted on August 4, 2011.
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