POLISCI 21N: Conflict and Climate Change
General Education Requirements
Course Description
Policymakers and scholars are increasingly interested in whether climate change and its associated effects could contribute to the risk of violent conflict within and between countries. Will drought and rising temperatures lead to struggles over a dwindling supply of agricultural land? Will shortages of fresh water cause growing tension over access to rivers and lakes? Will migration in response to economic hardship or rising sea levels bring people into conflict?
In this seminar, we explore such questions as: How could the expected effects of climate change make civil or international conflicts more likely? What evidence is there that environmental factors contribute to violent conflicts, historically and today? What regions or countries are most at risk from these challenges, and why? Answering these questions requires that we not only think about the human and social impacts of climate change but also ask basic questions about what causes political violence within and between countries and how we can assess the contribution of different risk factors. Assignments will encourage students to learn more about the conflict risks in countries that interest them and to gain familiarity with some of the methods that political scientists use to explore these issues systematically.
The connection between climate and conflict is relatively new area of inquiry, without many settled answers, so this seminar presents an opportunity to explore what we know, what we do not yet know, and what we can do to further our understanding of this issue going forward.
Meet the Instructor: Kenneth Schultz
“I am a professor of political science whose research seeks to understand the causes of war between and within states. Most of my work has focused on how domestic political considerations shape leaders' decisions about war and peace and how the obstacles to conflict resolution can be overcome. Until recently, my research had not really considered how climate change might contribute to the incidence of these conflicts, but mounting evidence of the effects of warming has made this question urgently important.”
