Threat Multiplier
Climate, Military Leadership, and the Fight for Global Security
Island Press
Threat Multiplier takes us onto the battlefield and inside the Pentagon to show how the US military is confronting the biggest security risk in global history: climate change. More than thirty years ago, when Sherri Goodman became the Pentagon’s first Chief Environmental Officer, no one would have imagined this role for our armed forces.
Indeed, for much of the twentieth century, the Department of Defense (DOD) was better known for containing the Soviet nuclear threat than protecting the environment. And yet, today, the military has moved from an environmental laggard to a clean energy and climate leader, recognizing that a warming world exacerbates every threat—from hurricanes and forest fires to terrorism and power plays by Russia and China. The Pentagon now considers climate in war games, disaster relief planning, international diplomacy, and even the design of its own bases.
What was the key to this dramatic change in military thinking? What keeps today’s generals and admirals up at night? How can we safeguard our national defense and our planet? No one is better poised to answer these questions than Sherri Goodman, who was at the vanguard of environmental leadership among our armed forces and civilian representatives. In Threat Multiplier, she tells the inside story of the military’s fight for global security, a tale that is as hopeful as it is harrowing.
Indeed, for much of the twentieth century, the Department of Defense (DOD) was better known for containing the Soviet nuclear threat than protecting the environment. And yet, today, the military has moved from an environmental laggard to a clean energy and climate leader, recognizing that a warming world exacerbates every threat—from hurricanes and forest fires to terrorism and power plays by Russia and China. The Pentagon now considers climate in war games, disaster relief planning, international diplomacy, and even the design of its own bases.
What was the key to this dramatic change in military thinking? What keeps today’s generals and admirals up at night? How can we safeguard our national defense and our planet? No one is better poised to answer these questions than Sherri Goodman, who was at the vanguard of environmental leadership among our armed forces and civilian representatives. In Threat Multiplier, she tells the inside story of the military’s fight for global security, a tale that is as hopeful as it is harrowing.
Sherri Goodman has been a leader in environmental, energy, and climate security since she served as the first Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security). Today, she is Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate & Security and a Senior Fellow at the Wilson Center.
She is credited with educating a generation of US military and government officials about the nexus between climate change and national security, using her famous coinage, “threat multiplier,” to fundamentally reshape this field.
She is credited with educating a generation of US military and government officials about the nexus between climate change and national security, using her famous coinage, “threat multiplier,” to fundamentally reshape this field.
Introduction
Chapter 1. From Weapons to Waste
Chapter 2. The Birth of Environmental Security
Chapter 3. Generals and Admirals Battle Climate Change
Chapter 4. Melting Ice and Rising Tensions in the Arctic
Chapter 5. Drought, Oil, and Power in Africa and the Middle East
Chapter 6. Navigating Asia’s Disaster Alley
Chapter 7. Imperiled Neighbors to the South
Chapter 8. Climate Readiness on the Home Base
Chapter 9. Less Fuel, More Fight
Chapter 10. Climate Proofing Security
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
About the Author
Chapter 1. From Weapons to Waste
Chapter 2. The Birth of Environmental Security
Chapter 3. Generals and Admirals Battle Climate Change
Chapter 4. Melting Ice and Rising Tensions in the Arctic
Chapter 5. Drought, Oil, and Power in Africa and the Middle East
Chapter 6. Navigating Asia’s Disaster Alley
Chapter 7. Imperiled Neighbors to the South
Chapter 8. Climate Readiness on the Home Base
Chapter 9. Less Fuel, More Fight
Chapter 10. Climate Proofing Security
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
About the Author
