Nicking the Thin Edge of the Wedge: What History Suggests About the Environmental Law of War
By Edmund Russell
INTRODUCTION
The thesis of this essay is that the environmental law of war, as currently conceived, will not constrain war's most important effects on the environment. The environmental law of war focuses primarily on direct, intentional harm by armed forces to environments at or near battlefronts. Efforts to constrain such damage are admirable and should be continued. History suggests, however, that the most transformative effects of war on the environment occur elsewhere in place and time.
This paper begins by demonstrating the focus of the environmental law of war on direct, intentional harm on battlefronts by military forces. The second section outlines the roles nature plays in war in addition to those envisioned by environmental law. The most important of these roles is intentional ally because it leads nations to attempt to control nature on a massive scale. The third section specifies ways in which mobilizing nature as an ally changes central features of civilian as well as military life, among them technology, institutions, institutional relations, and institutional strategy. The conclusion suggests several ways in which the findings outlined here might be applied.
The thesis of this essay is that the environmental law of war, as currently conceived, will not constrain war's most important effects on the environment. The environmental law of war focuses primarily on direct, intentional harm by armed forces to environments at or near battlefronts. Efforts to constrain such damage are admirable and should be continued. History suggests, however, that the most transformative effects of war on the environment occur elsewhere in place and time.
This paper begins by demonstrating the focus of the environmental law of war on direct, intentional harm on battlefronts by military forces. The second section outlines the roles nature plays in war in addition to those envisioned by environmental law. The most important of these roles is intentional ally because it leads nations to attempt to control nature on a massive scale. The third section specifies ways in which mobilizing nature as an ally changes central features of civilian as well as military life, among them technology, institutions, institutional relations, and institutional strategy. The conclusion suggests several ways in which the findings outlined here might be applied.