What if the greatest risk to global security isn’t a foreign power, but our changing climate? The International Affairs Forum closes its 32nd season with an examination of the U.S. military and its addressing of climate change. Once an “environmental laggard\u201d, our military is now a clean energy and climate leader. In a world where warming temperatures exacerbate everything from terrorism to power plays by Russia and China, the Pentagon now recognizes that “climate readiness is mission readiness.”<\/p>\n
This program is supported by IAF members and sponsors and is underwritten by Harold and Pam Lassers.<\/p>\n
Sherri Goodman, the Pentagon\u2019s first-ever Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Environmental Security will take the audience inside the strategy rooms and onto the battlefield to explore the findings of her book, Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership and the Fight for Global Security. As the Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate & Security and a former Wilson Center fellow, Goodman has been at the vanguard of this shift for 30+ years.<\/p>\n
Goodman argues that we must address climate change with the same alarm as the Cold War nuclear threat, noting that \u201ca warming world exacerbates every threat,\u201d from the stability of our own domestic bases to competition for increasingly scarce food and water abroad. Her work offers a tough yet hopeful “inside story” of the military\u2019s fight for global security, answering the critical question: How can we safeguard both our national defense and our planet?<\/p>\n
The discussion will offer unique insights into how military leadership and climate strategy are now inseparable, and what it means for the future of global stability.<\/p>\n