Ebook: Environmental Security and Environmental Management: The Role of Risk Assessment

The concept of “environmental security” has emerged as one basis for understanding international conflicts. This phrase can mean a variety of things. It can signify security issues stemming from environmental concerns or conflicting needs, or it can mean that the environment is treated as a resource for the long term, and the question is what should be done today to preserve the quality of the environment in the future. In the same way that energy security is about ensuring access to energy for the long run, it can also mean that pressing environmental concerns create a situation where different countries and communities are forced to collaboratively design a unified response, even if cooperation is not generally in the logic of their relations. Over the last several years, the authors of this book and their colleagues have tried to demonstrate the power of risk assessment and decision analysis as valuable tools that decision makers should use for a broad range of environmental problems, including environmental security. Risk analysis is almost more a state of mind or a way of looking at problems than it is a kind of algorithm or a set of recipes. It projects a kind of rationality on problems and forces a certain degree of quantitative rigor, as opposed to the all too common tendency of making environmental recommendations based on anecdotal evidence.

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The concept of "Environmental security" has emerged as one basis for understanding international conflicts. This phrase can mean a variety of things. It can signify security issues stemming from environmental concerns or conflicting needs, or it can mean that the environment is treated as a resource for the long term, and the question is what should be done today to preserve the quality of the environment in the future. Over the last several years, the authors of this book and their colleagues have demonstrated the power and value of risk assessment and decision analysis as tools that decision makers should use for a broad range of environmental problems, including environmental security.

This book is based on the discussions and papers prepared for the NATO Advanced Research Workshop that took place in Eilat, Israel, in April 2004. Many of the contributions in the book do not deal directly with the region, instead, they apply a risk analytical approach to a variety of environmental problems. The goal was as much to inform about the problems as it was to show the power of risk analysis as a tool to discuss environmental policy.

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The concept of "Environmental security" has emerged as one basis for understanding international conflicts. This phrase can mean a variety of things. It can signify security issues stemming from environmental concerns or conflicting needs, or it can mean that the environment is treated as a resource for the long term, and the question is what should be done today to preserve the quality of the environment in the future. Over the last several years, the authors of this book and their colleagues have demonstrated the power and value of risk assessment and decision analysis as tools that decision makers should use for a broad range of environmental problems, including environmental security.

This book is based on the discussions and papers prepared for the NATO Advanced Research Workshop that took place in Eilat, Israel, in April 2004. Many of the contributions in the book do not deal directly with the region, instead, they apply a risk analytical approach to a variety of environmental problems. The goal was as much to inform about the problems as it was to show the power of risk analysis as a tool to discuss environmental policy.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xi
Environmental Security, Critical Infrastructure and Risk Assessment: Definitions and Current Trends....Pages 1-16
SECURITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST WATER ISSUES....Pages 3-16
Security and the Environment in the Middle East Water Issues....Pages 17-24
POTENTIAL OF SOLAR THERMAL DESALINATION TO DEFUSE WATER AS A CONFLICT ISSUE IN THE MIDDLE EAST Proposal for Functional Cooperation in the Gulf of Aqaba....Pages 17-24
Potential of Solar Thermal Desalination to Defuse Water as a Conflict Issue in the Middle East....Pages 25-48
WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY IN MEDITERRANEAN TRANSBOUNDARY RIVER BASINS....Pages 25-48
Water Resources Management and Environmental Security in Mediterranean Transboundary River Basins....Pages 49-58
THE ROLE OF COMPARATIVE RISK ASSESSMENT IN DECISION ANALYSIS MARSHLANDS OF MESOPOTAMIA AND AFFECTED RIPARIAN COUNTRIES....Pages 49-58
The Role of Comparative Risk Assessment in Decision Analysis Marshlands of Mesopotamia and Affected Riparian Countries....Pages 59-77
A FUTURE FOR THE DEAD SEA BASIN: OPTIONS FOR A MORE SUSTAINABLE WATER MANAGEMENT....Pages 59-77
A Future for the Dead Sea Basin: Options for a More Sustainable Water Management....Pages 79-91
Are Standard Risk Acceptability Criteria Applicable to Critical Infrastructure Based on Environmental Security Needs?....Pages 79-91
FROM GLOBAL WARMING TO WATER SCARCITY: WHAT ARE THE MOST URGENT ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS OF THE REGION. Report of the Discussion Group on Environmental Security....Pages 93-102
From Global Warming to Water Scarcity: What Are the Most Urgent Environmental Problems of the Region....Pages 93-102
The Interconnection between the Built Environment Ecology and Health....Pages 103-107
THE INTERCONNECTION BETWEEN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT ECOLOGY AND HEALTH....Pages 103-107
Statistical Models for Distributions of Ambient Fine Particulate Matter....Pages 111-125
QND: A Scenario-Based Gaming System for Modeling Environmental Processes and Management Decisions....Pages 109-125
Mapping of Relative Risk....Pages 127-150
Understanding Risk Culture and Developing a’ soft’ Approach to Risk Assessment Methodologies....Pages 151-185
Different Preventive Strategies Require Diversified Risk Assessment Models....Pages 187-199
Coupling Public Participation and Expert Judgment for Assessment of Innovative Contaminated Sediment Technologies....Pages 201-210
Environmental Risk Assessment and Management: Promoting Security in the Middle East and the Mediterranean Region....Pages 211-221
Reuse of Wastewater in Agriculture- Economic Assessment of Treatment and Supply Alternatives as Affecting Aquifer Pollution....Pages 223-244
Minimizing the Risks Associated with Water Scarcity....Pages 245-253
Integrated Risk-Based Management of Water Resources in the Jordan River Basin....Pages 257-262
Outcome of NATO Workshop on Radiological Risk in Central Asia....Pages 263-267
Public Transport Policy & Measures That Could Improve the Air Quality in Major Cities in Syria....Pages 269-279
Modeling the Combination of Impacts Caused by Waste Heat Discharge from Power Plant Cooling Systems into Offshore Environments....Pages 281-286
Role of Synergy in Biological Risk Assessment....Pages 287-296
Cooperative Network for Environmental Risk Analysis Studies: The Case of the Middle East Region....Pages 297-305
Back Matter....Pages 307-314
....Pages 315-320