Environmental Dimension of Asian Security : Conflict and Cooperation over Energy, Resources, and Pollution

by Hyun, In-Taek

• ISBN13: 9781929223749
• ISBN10: 1929223749
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-01-30
• Publisher: United States Inst of Peace Pr

Summary

Northeast Asia is a region with highly disparate levels of industrialization and political systems. It also contains some very troubling security flashpoints-the Taiwan Strait, the Korean Peninsula, and the East China Sea. China's rapacious quest for energy and rapid industrial expansion have led to intense international competition-with Japan and the United States-and internal instability as well. North Korea poses two distinct environmental security threats: "famine refugees" and the regime's use of "nuclear blackmail" for subsidized energy. Yet there is very little regional cooperation, despite the need to manage disputes over energy, natural resources, and pervasive pollution. The Environmental Dimension of Asian Security examines these issues through a "regional environmental security complex" that explores the potential for greater intersubjective understandings of regional environmental and natural resource problems and greater institutional collaboration and management.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and Tables
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Environment-Security Nexus in Northeast Asia	p. 3
A Regional Environmental Security-Complex Approach to Environmental Security in Northeast Asia	p. 23
Energy Security and Regional Stability in Northeast Asia	p. 41
The Case of Radioactive Waste Management in East Asia	p. 63
Security, Energy, and the Environment: The Atmospheric Link	p. 89
Regional Security and Cooperation in the Protection of Marine Environments in Northeast Asia	p. 115
Water Security in Northeast Asia: Coping with Global Water Issues	p. 143
Food Security in East Asia and the North Korean Famine	p. 165
Inter-Korean Environmental Cooperation: Options for Improving Environmental Quality in North Korea	p. 185
The State and Nongovernmental Organizations in Northeast Asia's Environmental Security	p. 207
A Regional Environmental Security Complex in East Asia: The Reality and the Potential	p. 233
Conclusion: East Asia's Environmental Challenges and Their Implications for Security and Regional Cooperation	p. 253
Notes	p. 275
Selected Bibliography	p. 335
Index	p. 359
About the Contributors	p. 399
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