Climate security

Growing Connection Between Climate Change, Terrorism Affects Politics

Earlier this year, the Pentagon released a detailed report on the security risks of global warming, concluding that “climate change will aggravate problems such as poverty, social tensions, environmental degradation, ineffectual leadership and weak political institutions that threaten stability in a number of countries.” The intelligence community agrees: Former CIA Director Leon Panetta, current Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and current CIA Director John O. Brennan have all weighed in on climate-related political destabilization in resource-poor countries. In a report to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Clapper’s office wrote that “extreme weather, climate change, and public policies that affect food and water supplies will probably create or exacerbate humanitarian crises and instability risks,” citing climate change as a potential cause of water scarcity in dry regions like the Middle East.