On May 15, 2024 the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge Massachusetts, hosted an exploratory meeting of experts titled Climate Conundrum: Bridging the Gap Between Science and Security. The venerable convening venue was graced with a promenade of framed letters from historical members of the Academy that include General George Washington as well as Nelson Mandela. I was invited to the workshop by Oxford professor Neta Crawford, a member of the Academy, who published a book recently titled The Pentagon, Climate Change and War which won the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas that Improve World Order. A key question that underpinned the conversations that day was - are contemporary conflicts considering environmental costs in any meaningful way in comparison from the wars of yesteryears? Recall the Vietnam war when defoliants like Agent Orange were being sprayed without much care across the vast rainforests of Indochina by the United States.
The conversation was sobering. . . .