Environmental Policy

Question 1

Origins of Environmental IR

Answer 1

Industrialization
End of the Cold War:
–Increased economic activity
–Resource scarcity
–Globalization

Question 2

Environmentalism in IR: Realism

Answer 2

Realists:
Explored relationship between resource scarcity and armed conflict
Elevated environment to level of “high” politics
Positivist, focus on nation-states

Question 3

Environmentalism in IR: Neoliberal Institutionalism

Answer 3

Examined role of IOs, regimes, negotiations, and institutions in fostering cooperation on environmental issues
Positivist, focus on nation-statesNeoliberal institutionalists:
Examined role of IOs, regimes, negotiations, and institutions in fostering cooperation on environmental issues
Positivist, focus on nation-states

Question 4

Green Theory: First Strand

Answer 4

• Emphasizes role of transnational actors and processes
• Focuses on achieving environmental governance and justice
• Draws on constructivism and postmodernism

Question 5

Green Theory: Second Strand

Answer 5

• Emphasizes how actors and processes relate to material practices that lead to environmental degradation
• Focuses on relationship between global economy, political institutions, and natural environment
• Draws on historical materialism, critical theory, feminism

Question 6

Common Themes in Environmental IR Theory

Answer 6

Why is the environmental condition so bad, and what can be done about it?
•Ecological concern:
–Explicit focus on environmental issues and ways in which institutions, ideologies, practices, and structural features lead to environmental degradation
•Normative sensibility:
–How can we produce a future in which humankind and the nonhuman world can flourish?