Sustainability and National Security

commitments to address climate change. A decade of
continuous U.S. involvement in global conflicts, with
continuing involvement likely after most troops are
withdrawn, has strained the military and drained both
financial and political capital for tackling the formi-
dable environmental security challenges that threaten
national and global ecosystems.
A central concern for the United States is to de-
velop a more sustainable energy policy. It has a vital
national interest in securing and protecting energy
markets, particularly oil, and has been a driving force
for policies that have attracted growing international
opposition from both state and non-state entities. Fur-
ther, as China and India expand their economies, com-
petition for resources is increasing, making oil markets
yet more expensive. It is widely agreed that U.S. polit-
ical and security interests point to the need to reduce
our reliance on foreign energy, and our consumption
of nonrenewable energy resources. Both military and
domestic technology innovations for improved ener-
gy efficiency, though encouraging, are insufficient to
compensate for the environmental burden of our eco-
nomic and political policies. Environmental regulation
spurred many advances a generation ago, but current
challenges are more complex and costly, and political
pressures have slowed regulatory requirements. The
U.S. government has sought to stimulate innovation
for greener technologies (see, e.g., DOE), but progress
toward energy sustainability is very slow.
The environmental, economic and political chal-
lenges that will emerge in the coming decades, aside
from Russia’s success or decline, will undoubtedly
continue to expand. Global effects from overpopula-
tion and global warming will create increasing, po-
tentially volatile, pressures for states in the coming
decades. As extreme weather patterns become more