Environmental Politics and NGOs
Environmental Politics versus International Security
Introduction:
Prior to the beginning of the twenty first century, the state of world politics was one in which, some may argue, the world underwent the most changes, and was thus at its most unstable. From the Manhattan Project and the Welfare State, the Great Depression and inflation, World War I and World War II to the Cold War and terrorism, social issues were viewed as insignificant in comparison. State actors had much bigger problems to address and as a result an emergence and proliferation of non-state actors willing to address social issues that where put on the back burners of state actors came into fruition. These non-state actors, known as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), are non-profit, comprised of voluntary members that organize on local, national and/or international levels and address social issues specific to the common interests of its members. NGOs specialize in gathering information and analyzing that information in order to solve a social issue either on its own or with the assistance of a state actor. This act, coupled with either the exchanging of information or financial aid with state actors are what NGOs strive for, and one realm in which this has proved to have been a great success is within the realm of environmental politics. This is because the information being exchanged and publicly released is for the betterment of society as a whole and doesn’t pose a threat to any state power. When the exchange of information cannot occur, however, the success rate of NGOs drops significantly. One realm in particular where this proves true is within the realm of international security. Because of the sensitivity of the information that is being gathered and exchanged between states and NGOs and the possibility of the information being leaked or being used as leverage against states proves too great, making the exchanging of information in regards to international security between states
Introduction:
Prior to the beginning of the twenty first century, the state of world politics was one in which, some may argue, the world underwent the most changes, and was thus at its most unstable. From the Manhattan Project and the Welfare State, the Great Depression and inflation, World War I and World War II to the Cold War and terrorism, social issues were viewed as insignificant in comparison. State actors had much bigger problems to address and as a result an emergence and proliferation of non-state actors willing to address social issues that where put on the back burners of state actors came into fruition. These non-state actors, known as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), are non-profit, comprised of voluntary members that organize on local, national and/or international levels and address social issues specific to the common interests of its members. NGOs specialize in gathering information and analyzing that information in order to solve a social issue either on its own or with the assistance of a state actor. This act, coupled with either the exchanging of information or financial aid with state actors are what NGOs strive for, and one realm in which this has proved to have been a great success is within the realm of environmental politics. This is because the information being exchanged and publicly released is for the betterment of society as a whole and doesn’t pose a threat to any state power. When the exchange of information cannot occur, however, the success rate of NGOs drops significantly. One realm in particular where this proves true is within the realm of international security. Because of the sensitivity of the information that is being gathered and exchanged between states and NGOs and the possibility of the information being leaked or being used as leverage against states proves too great, making the exchanging of information in regards to international security between states