Global Governance

The International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo in September 1994, forged a broad new consensus on the international community’s approach to population issues. Over three years after the conference, it is timely to explore the U.S. response to the conference and to the challenges posed by the new consensus.

Excerpts from recent official statements in which environmental issues are cited in the context of security institutions and national interests, and reviews by experts of new publications.

Reviews include:

This update section highlights the environment, population, and security activities of foundations, nongovernmental organizations,  academic programs, and government offices, and includes a list of Internet sites and forums which may facilitate research and policy efforts.

The time has come to unpackage the environment. In the three and a half decades since environmental problems first began to command public attention, they have moved from the periphery to stage center. No longer discussed only at gatherings of the converted, environmental issues are part of centrist political campaigns, the subject of major international conferences, a factor in trade negotiations and an element in the strategic plans of multinational corporations. While this attention has led to some notable successes, actions have fallen well short of needs.

What are the gaps in the analysis of environment, conflict, and cooperation (ECC) linkages, and how can applied research fill them? This chapter identifies ten methodological, analytical, and substantive opportunities for future research, and five areas in which focused analysis could bolster policymaking.

Alexander Carius and Geoffrey D. Dabelko analyze gaps in institutional responses to environment and conflict. They propose a dialogue on best practices and innovative institutional efforts that will help researchers and policymakers move beyond reacting to symptoms of environment and security linkages and towards learning from interventions that bolster confidence and cooperation rather than instability.

Marc Levy and Patrick Philippe Meier recommend that assessments and early warning systems integrate environmental variables more completely and effectively. The authors assert that the international system has little capacity to monitor and assess conflict and cooperation on environmental issues.

PECS News Issue 7 contents include:

Burning the Bridge to the 21st Century: The End of the Era of Integrated Conferences? - Frederick A.B. Meyerson

Report From Johannesburg: Wither Population, Environmental Change, and Security? - Geoff Dabelko

HIV/AIDS in the Ranks: Responding to AIDS in African Militaries (Event Summary)

The World’s Water: Crisis and Opportunity in the New Century with Peter Gleick (Event Summary)

An Integral Approach to Implementing Population-Environment Programs in the Andes Region of Peru - Besem Obenson

PECS News Issue 6 contents include:

The Road to Johannesburg: Setting the Agenda for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Event Summary)

Does Population Matter? New Research on Population Change and Economic Development (Event Summary)

U.S. Foreign Policy and Global Health: Addressing Issues of Humanitarian Aid and Political Instability (Event Summary)

Supporting Livelihood and Food Security in Coastal Philippine Communities through Population-Environment Programming - Robert Layng

Potential and unnecessary conflicts loom between the international trade rules in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the international environmental rules in the Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). These two important bodies of international law have different objectives and have evolved separately, without regard to one another. They also operate in very different ways.