Environmental and human security issues are vital national security
interests in African states because most citizens are engaged in
daily struggles to survive. Chronic and worsening resource
scarcities and degradations fuel these individual struggles, along
with political conflicts among different groups vying to control
and benefit from scarce resources. Thus, many observers agree on
the importance of expanding the concept of national security in
African states, but there is no consensus yet on the optimal
approach for studying or improving environmental and human security
problems. While there are books on human and environmental
security, few past works focus on Africa or address the interests
and concerns of researchers and practitioners working in such
diverse fields as development, security, or environmental science.
Even though the military is one of the most influential
institutions in African countries, no published work to date has
addressed issues related to when, how, or if national and foreign
militaries should be involved in promoting human and environmental
security. African Environmental and Human Security in the 21st
Century fills this void by combining ten original studies that
discuss important non-traditional security issues facing countries
located in each region of Africa. This volume reflects a shared
assumption that one must have case-specific knowledge, use
multidisciplinary and multi-level conceptual frameworks, and have
an appreciation of feasible and desirable public policies in order
to understand and effectively address complex non-traditional
security concerns. This is the first book to address a broad array
of African environmental and human security issues. The book is
intended to be used by beginning students, seasoned researchers,
novice and experienced practitioners. The case studies expose the
reader to past relevant research, while also identifying the main
causes and consequences of different types of political conflicts
fueled by human and environmental security problems. Each study
also contains policy lessons, "best practices," or recommended
future actions. The originality and comprehensiveness of each
chapter means that the volume is likely to appeal to a wide range
of readers for many years. Despite the diversity of the
contributors' backgrounds, many of the conclusions and
recommendations use common themes about the complex causes of human
and environmental conflicts; the need to adopt longer-term time
frames to evaluate the effectiveness of policy actions; and an
emphasis on the importance of outside actors providing modest
amounts of targeted aid to help Africans manger immediate pressing
problems as well. Several authors addressed the proper role for
outside agencies, such as AFRICOM and USAID, and provide caveats
similar to the thrust of Maxie McFarland's cautionary concluding
comments at the ISA panel; to wit, just because "the military is
already doing a lot of nontraditional, human security type projects
in Iraq and Afghanistan ...and just because the Army and other
branches of the military] can do this type of activity, "doesn't
mean you want them to do it." African Environmental and Human
Security in the 21st Century is an important book for African
Studies, economic development, environmental and earth science,
environmental security, ecotourism, history, human security,
international relations, national security and military Science
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