Energy And Security Concerns In The Atlantic Community

This book presents the proceedings of the fifth biannual symposium on "Energy and Security Concerns in the Atlantic Community". It aims to project what the future will hold for the peace movements and their effects on the policies of the Atlantic Community.

"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic marks the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come." -Global Trends 2040 (2021) Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World (2021), released by the US National Intelligence Council, is the latest report in its series of reports starting in 1997 about megatrends and the world's future. This report, strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, paints a bleak picture of the future and describes a contested, fragmented and turbulent world. It specifically discusses the four main trends that will shape tomorrow's world: - Demographics-by 2040, 1.4 billion people will be added mostly in Africa and South Asia. - Economics-increased government debt and concentrated economic power will escalate problems for the poor and middleclass. - Climate-a hotter world will increase water, food, and health insecurity. - Technology-the emergence of new technologies could both solve and cause problems for human life. Students of trends, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and anyone eager for a glimpse into the next decades, will find this report, with colored graphs, essential reading.

On 21 November 2007 the grand and elegant Delegates Hall of the Hungarian Parliament was the scene of the opening of a conference to discuss some of the most pressing issues of the day, those related to our unending thirst for energy, its environmental consequences, and the challenges that these bear on security. Over the next 3 days scientists, parliamentarians and their guests confronted, challenged, teased and cajoled each other in a NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) entitled “Energy and Environmental Challenges to Security,” affirming that knowledge and public service hold the keys to solving our greatest challenges. The magnitude of the security challenge was confirmed while this volume was being prepared. In mid-2008, the International Energy Agency issued a report concluding that US$45 trillion would be needed over the next half century to prevent energy shortages and greenhouse gas emissions from undermining global economic growth. But lest such large numbers cause us all to shrug, this volume brings attention to some of the more manageable aspects of the environment and energy security challenge – from addressing conflict resources such as illegal timber that contribute to corruption and regional instability, to means and mechanisms to enable the diversification of energy supplies, to environmental risk reduction strategies for particular installations. The participants in the Hungarian Parliament building were atypical for a NATO Advanced Research Workshop.

This book examines the evolution of the Euro-Atlantic security system, from cooperation to rivalry and crisis, since the beginning of the 21st century. By highlighting the causes, manifestations and international consequences of this evolution, the author describes a stage of crisis in the security system, characterized by increasing rivalry for spheres of influence, militarization of policies and the suspension of cooperation due to the growing divergence between the interests of the West – now including the Central European states – and Russia, leading to a subsequent reconfiguration of the world order. Adopting a neo-realistic approach, the author demonstrates that members of the Euro-Atlantic security system, irrespective of the values they claim to hold, are guided in their actions on the international stage by clearly defined interests. The first part of the book analyses the nature of the Euro-Atlantic security system, while the second part illustrates the limited success of Euro-Atlantic collaboration, for example in combating terrorism. Lastly, the third part discusses the consequences of the crisis, such as the conflict in Ukraine, and prospects for the future evolution of the Euro-Atlantic security system.