THE NEW-WORLD DISORDER - IS ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY THE CURE

Environmental security, as currently conceived., is rooted in the assu mption that it is increasing populations, combined with static or decl ining resource bases, that are the real cause of most current and futu re conflicts. This is simply the restatement, on the global level, of a local theory-The Theory of Himalayan Environmental Degradation-which we already know is invalid. This does not mean that the environment i s irrelevant to security, and that human ingenuity will always create resources sufficient for us to resolve any crisis: that is an equally invalid line of reasoning. The rejection of both these mutually contra dictory orthodoxies, and their replacement by the more discerning, ref lexive, and socially-informed understanding that has been pioneered by those responsible for the demolition of the Theory of Himalayan Envir onmental Degradation, is the key to a properly founded and useful noti on of environmental security.