Future Journal of Social Science
Abstract
The world wars-with their different types- had contributed to the launch of many research fields that focused on war and peace studies. However, by the end of the Cold War, attention has been transformed to focus on civil wars, peace reconstruction processes, and human security, to find an answer to whether the scarcity of resources will increase the risk of conflict. Since then, the environment has become a fundamental issue in international politics and has even turned to a source of attraction for the field of international relations. Politicizing and De-politicizing the environment has gained more concern in recent years as a rapidly growing field of research and practice, through which the environment, conflict, peace, and security intersect.
Accordingly, the paper presents the various definitions of the concept of Politicizing the environment, the theoretical assumptions, and intellectual backgrounds for introducing the concept, in addition to its relations and applications in the Arab context and how it is politically employed. Then the paper will monitor and evaluate the main challenges of environmental politicization, political operations that follow this politicization, which can be characterized by hostility and violence. The paper tries to examine the concepts pf politicization and depoliticization of the environment through scenes in the Arab context and how the environment is employed in most cases for political purposes.
In the Arab context, recent climate changes, droughts and floods in Syria and Libya, have resulted in massive environmental damage, that was then politicized through the destruction of non-human activities as well as by targeting infrastructure vital to the safety of civilians, and instrumentalized by international actors for the interest of specific parties or groups.
The paper addresses many questions such as: Which one leads to the other, do international conflicts politicize the environment? Or is the lack of resources and wealth the main trigger of wars and conflicts? How do scarce resources contribute to conflict in some Arab cases? How do we think about and work toward environmental justice in the context of war and reconstruction?
Recommended Citation
Mosad, Dr. Mai Mogib M
(2024)
"(De)Politicizing the Environment: Scenes from the Arab context,"
Future Journal of Social Science: Vol. 3:
Iss.
2, Article 1.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.aaru.edu.jo/fjss/vol3/iss2/1