April 22, 2010

CNAS Capstone - Broadening Horizons: Climate Change and the U.S. Armed Forces

By Christine Parthemore, Herbert Carmen and Will Rogers

Climate change holds important consequences for national security and the way the Department of Defense (DOD) does business.

The Broadening Horizons capstone report, authored by CNAS Senior Military Fellow Commander Herbert E. Carmen, USN, CNAS Bacevich Fellow Christine Parthemore and CNAS Research Assistant Will Rogers, provides an overview of the implications of climate change for DOD, the military services and the combatant commands, and makes recommendations to help the United States better navigate the potential geopolitical implications of the changing climate. The authors advocate that the United States engage in a serious international discussion of geoengineering; ratify the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Seas; and designate U.S. Northern Command to take responsibility of the Arctic region, with support from European Command and Pacific Command; and that the U.S. government create a clear policy regarding nuclear reactors on military installations.

This capstone is part of a larger edited volume, available for download here.

Authors

  • Christine Parthemore

  • Herbert Carmen

  • Will Rogers

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