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SIPRI’s Environment of Peace initiative focuses on managing the risks that are created by two interwoven crises: the darkening security horizon and the immense pressures being placed on the natural world and the systems that support life on earth. The Environment of Peace research report is an in-depth look at the evidence base and analysis of the policy report Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk, including many real-world case studies. The report is the result of two years’ work by more than 30 researchers, led and guided by some of the leading voices in the fields of environment and security. Accessibly designed, the new research report is available to download in four parts: Elements of a Planetary Emergency (part 1); Security Risks of Environmental Crises (part 2); Navigating a Just and Peaceful Transition (part 3); and Enabling an Environment of Peace (part 4). This part—Security Risks of Environmental Crises (part 2)—shows how combinations of environmental and security phenomena are generating complex risks. Through a theoretical framework informed by the literature, Cedric de Coning, Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), and his team explore different pathways from environmental stress to conflict and how the darkening security horizon and environmental crises are interacting to generate different types of risk: compound, cascading, emergent, systemic and existential. The analysis is supported by numerous case studies, spanning a variety of social-ecological systems and different types of risks. Part 2 also discusses options for responding to these complex risks.

Does climate change constitute a national security threat to the United States? What is climate security vulnerability? In Course Module No. 1, CCAPS researcher Joshua Busby provides background material, discussion questions, scenarios, and resources for an in-depth discussion on national security and climate change., The original document contains color images.

Using Africa as a regional focus, this article attempts to reconcile the scientific community's approach to analyzing the effects of climate change with the emerging approaches in political science for assessing the future security consequences of such change. It presents georeferenced maps of subnational climate vulnerability in Africa, using past exposure to climate-related hazards, population density, household and community resilience, and governance as well as political violence. The article couples this approach with projections of future climate change, employing an ensemble of five general circulation models and suggesting that maps of chronic vulnerability which incorporate a variety of indicators provide a helpful advance for international relations scholars. Specifically, such maps are less reliant on heroic assumptions about changes in political and economic systems than either forecasting or scenario analysis., The original document contains color images. Published in Air and Space Power Journal-Africa and Francophonie, v3 n3 p4-44, 2012.

China's rise is one of the most significant geopolitical events in modern history, rivaling America's ascent more than a century before. Leading newspapers and blogs from around the world provide a daily reminder of a growing international demand to engage Beijing on a variety of major global issues, including proliferation, energy security, climate change, and the global financial crisis. However, the world is also reminded of the underside of China's ascent, manifested in its support for despotic regimes, its military modernization efforts, and its repressive treatment of its citizens. Still, the international financial crisis that originated in the West has only accelerated China's arrival as a global player. As most of the industrialized world struggles to post neutral growth figures, China maintains that it will achieve eight percent growth in 2009 and continues to find opportunities to convert its economic strength into influence.