Climate Change

Overview:

Climate change is raising the risk of conflict as stresses on natural resources undermine the capacity of nations to govern themselves while increasing the chances of conflict.

The impact of global warming has led to geopolitical changes that threaten to deepen ongoing international divides. Proxy wars involving destabilized vulnerable regions are likely to occur as competition over transboundary resources are provoking national unrest from resource scarcity.

Security and climate impacts intersect to form socioeconomic hazards concerning:

• Water weaponization

• Migration

• Sea-level rises of coastal cities

• Food scarcity (non-state actors holding hostage local resources to convert followers)

• Dangerous seaways involving critical waterways

• Emerging health risks

• Exacerbating conflict

Natural disasters are not new to regions, but the rate of change and the decrease in the recovery time contributes to the fact that climate change should be viewed as a current geopolitical threat that is facing international communities.

Solutions to such issues include increasing efforts on innovation with a specific focus on deploying technologies that would alleviate resource scarcities before they arise.

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Interviews:

• Synthetic bioweapons, nonstate actors, innovations in health, conflict zones – Dr. Devabhaktuni

  Srikrishna of MIT, contained the 2018 outbreak of Ebola in Congo

• Emerging technologies, deep fakes, AI/ autonomous weapons, idiosyncratic geopolitics – Rear

  Admiral John Gower UK Ministry of Defense

• Climate change, urbanization/mass migrations, system architecture - Dr. Sunil Dubey of the UN,

  the World Bank, and University of Sydney

• Digital terrorism, ISIS, gang violence – DARPA, Dr. Desmond Patton, J.M. Berger