Abstract
Island building in the South China Sea by China and other neighbors continues at a destructive and unprecedented rate. China now occupies more than 3000 acres of artificially constructed island space and has built land at a pace that is 17 times greater in recent years than all other claimants have built in combined efforts over the past 40 years. While calls for accountability by some national actors have been insistent, voices from non–governmental actors are largely absent. As the entire region is very complex, a holistic understanding of the operational setting demands: a full appreciation of the ability for stakeholders to hold regional actors accountable; an examination of key major environmental issues; and an analysis of regional security risks through a modified approach for assessing non-land based environmental security. This chapter examines these issues, models outcomes if no intervention is offered, and recommends contexts where China can be influenced and may be more willing to amend their activities in the region.
“Victory will be based on the full support of a prosperous and contented population while engaging in strategic diplomacy in step with military preparations.”
Geopolitics and the Dragon’s Advance: An Exploration of the Strategy and Reality of China’s Growing Economic and Military Power and its Effect Upon Taiwan
“Environmental scarcity has insidious and cumulative social impacts, such as population movement, economic decline, and weakening of states. These can contribute to diffuse and persistent sub-national violence. The rate and extent of such conflicts will increase as scarcities worsen.”
Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from Cases
Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense, US Pacific Command, or Oregon State University. This work is entirely Unclassified and derived from open sources.
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Thompson, W.C. (2019). When Politics, the Environment, and Advocacy Compete–Environmental Security in the South China Sea. In: Galgano, F. (eds) The Environment-Conflict Nexus. Advances in Military Geosciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90975-2_7
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