States and Nature

Joshua Busby is author of numerous studies on climate change, national security, and energy policy that have been published by peer-reviewed academic outlets and various think tanks. He was a leading researcher on two multi-million dollar grants on climate and security from the US Department of Defense under its Minerva Initiative and has consulted on the topic for international organizations and think tanks.

• 1. Introduction; 2. Conceptualizing climate and security; 3. The argument, method and mechanisms: state capacity, institutional inclusion and international assistance; 4. Droughts and famine in Somalia and Ethiopia; 5. Drought in the Middle East: contrasting fortunes in Syria and Lebanon; 6. Cyclones in South Asia: the experiences of Myanmar, Bangladesh and India; 7. Beyond internal conflict: the practice of climate security; 8. The next decade of climate security research; 9. Conclusion; Bibliography.

'This clearly argued text moves the field of climate security ahead by a careful analysis of some key cases that link environmental disruptions and disasters to political outcomes. A notable achievement of scholarly synthesis that should be widely read by practitioners and scholars grappling with this increasingly important cluster of policy issues.' Simon Dalby, Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University