The problem with environmental security: challenging the either/or approach of national versus human security in the context of the Mekong River Basin

摘要

One of the most important ideas to emerge from security studies in the past forty years is the field of research known as ‘environmental security studies’ (ESS). It has not, however, had the impact on security studies in general that it might have expected to – given the growing concerns regarding the scale and pace of environmental changes in the 20th and 21st centuries. ududThis thesis therefore firstly seeks to understand the nature of ESS, asking whether ESS has a central theoretical core that enables it to analyse the links between the environment and security. The research shows that the ESS literature does not have a central tenet, nor a united epistemological or methodological approach. The second area of research therefore asks if there is a common theme that can be discerned within the literature. Research indicates that there is a way of understanding ESS in a more coherent fashion in that the majority of ESS scholars endeavour to comprehend the systemic security impact of environmental processes. The problem is that there is no analytical bridge between the environment, the state and the individual.ududThis thesis therefore forwards a unique approach that argues that rather than the current either state-centric or a human security approach to ESS, it must be understood as a combination of both. This approach is termed “Systemic Environmental Security” (SES). SES is an analytical framework that takes into account the way that environmental processes give rise to both state security and human security concerns simultaneously. The thesis finally explores the unique insights provided by SES. This is achieved through a relevant case study of the Mekong River Basin. It is hoped that these unique insights provided by Systemic Environmental Security can be applied in a range of contexts, providing clearer conceptualisations of the complex relationship between security and the environment.