Environmental Peacemaking (Woodrow Wilson Center Press) (Paperback)

by Ken Conca (Editor), Geoffrey D. Dabelko (Editor) "Fears that a crowded, resource-stressed planet could be the site of increasingly conflict and violence are certainly not new; futurists such as Fairfield Osborn and..." (more)
Key Phrases: fostering environmental cooperation, environmental peacemaking, regional environmental cooperation, Aral Sea, Central Asian, South Africa (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Ken Conca and Geoffrey Dabelko have put together an interesting and useful volume on the potential linkages between environmental cooperation and peace... informative and well written... should be read by scholars and policy actors interested in the potential ways environmental cooperations might promote peace rather than violence." -- Rodger A. Payne, ECSP Report

"There is clearly a need for a book on this topic. The time has come to assess the consequences of environmental institutions and the opportunities they provide for cooperation and initiative." -- Raimo Väyrynen, University of Notre Dame

"The arguments developed in Environmental Peacemaking will be of extraordinary value, especially in shared watersheds, if we are to sustainably meet these needs." -- Christopher Behf, Natural Resources Forum

"Provocative and invaluable... makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the link between environment cooperation and peace." -- Dimitrios Konstadakopulos, Perspectives on Politics

"A provocative and invaluable book... makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the link between environment cooperation and peace." -- Dimitrios Konstadakopulos, American Political Science Review

"It should be of interest to scholars in the field of environmental security, environmental politics and international relations." -- Hilary Nixon, International Environmental Agreements

Review

"There is clearly a need for a book on this topic. The time has come to assess the consequences of environmental institutions and the opportunities they provide for cooperation and initiative." -- Raimo Väyrynen, University of Notre Dame

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (November 13, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080187193X
• ISBN-13: 978-0801871931
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,419,297 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A worthy but scattered effort, March 22, 2003

By	Saleem Ali (Vermont, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Using environmental issues as a means of catalyzing cooperation among adversaries is a plausible goal that deserves greater attention. This book is an initial attempt at this emerging field of inquiry. The authors are affiliated with one of the most well-recognized research programs in this field at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

However, the title is a bit deceptive since much of the discourse in the book is a reflexive continuation of the environmental security literature, rather than offering a fresh theoretical path towards an instrumental vision of environmental issues in conflict resolution. A major cause of this lapse is the choice of case studies that are presented. All except one (India and Pakistan) are low level conflict situations where cooperation is far easier to engage. Even in the chapter on South Asia, the authors do not address the question of why cooperation over the Indus has NOT led to a larger cooperative mood between India and Pakistan?

Much of the text presents historical material and some "thick description" of cases and a literature review rather than involved analysis or recommendations. To be fair to the authors, they admit that this is an embryonic work -- but perhaps they should have waited a couple of years and chosen better case studies before producing the volume. Some suggestions for closer analysis would be "peace parks" between Ecuador and Peru or more localized cases such as the alliance between "red-neck" fishermen and Native Americans over preservation of the wild rice plantations in Northern Wisconsin (two sides which were previously inveterate adversaries).

Nevertheless, the book offers a workable starting point for further research.