1. Environment and Population CHAPTER ELEVEN International Relations 9/e Goldstein and Pevehouse Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman © 2010

2. Interdependence and the Environment Global threats to the natural environment are a growing source of interdependence. Environmental effects tend to be diffuse and long-term. These effects easily spread from one location to another. This makes for a difficult collective goods problem, particularly in areas such as the environment, natural resources, and population. Tragedy of the commons Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman © 2010

3. Sustainable Development Sustainable development refers to economic growth that does not deplete resources and destroy ecosystems so quickly that economic growth is itself undermined. Concept applies to both the industrialized regions and the global South. Managing the environment is the most “global” of problems. It involves collective goods for all states and people of the world. Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman © 2010

4. The Demographic Transition The process of economic development brings about a change in birth rates and death rates that follows a fairly universal pattern called demographic transition. First death rates fall as food supplies increase and access to health care expands. Later, birth rates fall as people become educated, more secure, and more urbanized, and as the status of women in society rises. At the end of the transition, birth rates and death rates are fairly close to each other, and population growth is limited. But during the transition, when death rates have fallen more than birth rates, population grows rapidly. Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman © 2010

5. Population and International Conflict The idea that overpopulation is the cause of hunger in today’s world is not really accurate. Poverty and politics, more than population, are the causes of malnutrition and hunger today. Enough food, water, petroleum, land, etc., but these are unequally distributed. Strains and conflicts on resources Demographics can exacerbate ethnic conflicts. Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman © 2010

6. Final Quiz Groups of 3 – answer the following question 1. Sustainable development is the goal of modern nation states. This has become a major concern due to environmental standards in the international community. Discuss why global warming, the ozone layer, and forests and oceans are major concerns for the environment and explain the major policies adopted in helping address these problems. 2. Pollution is a collective goods problem. Why is it so hard to solve? Is there a solution? 3. Give me three explanations for why natural resources can be a source of international conflict. Of the natural resources listed in the book, which is the most important today? 50 years from now? Why?

7. The Atmosphere: Global Warming Global warming; global climate change Slow, long-term rise in the average world temperature Alterations of weather patterns UN Environment Program (UNEP) Greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, etc) Costs of reduction are high Curbing economic growth or shifting it onto new technological paths Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman © 2010

8. The Atmosphere: Global Warming Triple dilemma Short-term and predictable costs to gain long-term and less predictable benefits. Specific constituencies such as oil companies and industrial workers pay the costs, whereas the benefits are distributed more generally across domestic society and internationally. There is the collective goods dilemma among states: benefits are shared globally but costs must be extracted from each state individually. Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman © 2010

9. The Atmosphere: Ozone Depletion Ozone high in the atmosphere screens out harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. Certain chemicals expelled by industrial economies float to the top of the atmosphere and interact with ozone in a way that breaks it down. Increased radiation is the result of ozone depletion. Montreal Protocol 1987 Most important success yet achieved in international negotiations to preserve the global environment Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman © 2010

10. Forests and Oceans Two types of habitat – tropical rain forests and oceans – are especially important to biodiversity and the atmosphere. Rain forests As many as half the world’s total species live in rain forests, which replenish oxygen and reduce carbon monoxide. Most are in poor states; debtor nations Until recently, rich states have encouraged maximum economic growth in these states so foreign debts might be paid with little regard for environmental damage. Now, greater interest in protecting rain forests Brazil – plan to end deforestation Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman © 2010

11. Forests and Oceans Oceans Cover 70% of the Earth’s surface Key to regulating climate and preserving biodiversity Attractive targets for short-term economic uses that cause long-term environmental preservation Belong to no state but are a global commons Free riders High seas – non-territorial waters UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (negotiated 1973-1982) Role of private environmental groups Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman © 2010

12. Pollution More often a regional or bilateral issue The effects of pollution are generally limited to the state where it occurs and its close neighbors In several regions (notably Western and Eastern Europe and the Middle East), states are closely packed in the same air, river, or sea basins. Acid rain Often crosses borders Water pollution Toxic and nuclear waste Chernobyl Market economies have begun to deal with pollution as another cost of production Aral Sea pollution Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman © 2010

13. Natural Resources Because the extraction of resources brings states wealth, these resources regularly become a source of international conflicts. Not collective goods problems because they are mostly located within individual states, but states do bargain as to these vital resources. Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman © 2010

14. Natural Resources Three aspects of natural resources shape their role in international conflict. Required for the operation of an industrial economy Sources are associated with particular territories over which states may fight for control. Natural resources tend to be unevenly distributed, with plentiful supplies in some states and absence in others. Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman © 2010

15. World Energy Energy resources (fuels) are central to states. Oil (40% of world energy consumption) Cheapest to transport over long distances Coal (30%) Natural gas (25%) Hydroelectric and nuclear power (5%) International trade in energy plays a vital role in the world economy. Oil prices Political importance of Middle East Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman © 2010

16. Water Disputes World water use is 35 times that of just a few centuries ago and grew twice as fast as population in the 20th century. One-fifth of the world’s population lacks safe drinking water. 80 countries suffer from water shortages. Water supplies often cross international borders. Source of conflict Problem in the Middle East Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman © 2010