Climate Change and the Politics of Military Bases

How does climate change affect the politics of military bases? The United States alone has hundreds of overseas bases that require continuous coordination with host governments. I argue that climate change can create knock-on environmental problems associated with a base’s infrastructure or waste. T...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Global environmental politics 2018-02, Vol.18 (1), p.33-51
Main Author: Colgan, Jeff D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Army
Ballistic missiles
Climate change
Coal
Coal mines
Coordination
Environmental changes
Environmental degradation
Human settlements
Military
Military bases
Politics
Pollutants
Surface water
Transnationalism
Water pollution
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Summary:How does climate change affect the politics of military bases? The United States alone has hundreds of overseas bases that require continuous coordination with host governments. I argue that climate change can create knock-on environmental problems associated with a base’s infrastructure or waste. Those knock-on problems create a mix of subnational, international, and transnational political contestation that raises the political costs of overseas bases and could even rupture an international relationship. I probe the plausibility of the theoretical framework using new evidence from Greenland. Between 1953 and 1967, the US Army maintained secret bases in Greenland as precursors for a nuclear ballistic missile complex. The bases were eventually abandoned, leaving considerable waste behind. Climate change is now poised to remobilize these pollutants into the surface water, creating a risk for human settlements. The case could be the proverbial canary in the coal mine for future politics surrounding overseas military bases.
ISSN:1526-3800
1536-0091
DOI:10.1162/GLEP_a_00443