Center for a New American Security

Last week, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visited Washington where he met with U.S. officials, including Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. According to the Department of Defense, the two discussed ways to enhance communication between China and the United States. Vice President Xi is expected to become president next year.

One underexplored opportunity for enhancing U.S-Chinese military communication is military-to-military engagement that uses environmental cooperation as a means for developing stronger relations, communication and interoperability. In 2009, Geoff Dabelko of the Wilson Center and Kent Hughes Butts of the U.S. Army War College wrote a piece in The Christian Science Monitor arguing this point, writing that “Environmental security issues – and climate change in particular – could be among the most productive avenues for US-China military cooperation.” There have not been any developments on this front – to my knowledge – but the opportunity exists.

Photo: Courtesy of Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo and the Department of Defense