Christine Parthemore
Topics: Natural Resources + National Security = Natural Security Projects: Energy Security and Climate Change, War Game: Clout and Climate Change
The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing by Richard DawkinsThe Future History of the Arctic by Charles EmmersonThe Future of Everything: The Science of Prediction by David Orrell
Christine Parthemore is a Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), where she directs the Natural Security Program and the Natural Security Blog. This program explores national security and foreign policy issues related to natural resources and their consumption, including energy, minerals, land, water, climate change and biodiversity loss. She is the author or co-author of publications including: Sustaining Security: How Natural Resources Influence National Security; Broadening Horizons: Climate Change and the U.S. Armed Forces; Iran: Assessing U.S. Strategic Options; Uncharted Waters: The U.S. Navy and Navigating Climate Change; and A Strategy for American Power: Energy, Climate, and National Security. She also co-authored a chapter in the 2008 book Climatic Cataclysm: The Foreign Policy and National Security Implications of Global Climate Change.
Prior to joining CNAS, she worked as an assistant to journalist Bob Woodward on State of Denial: Bush at War Part III and The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat. Her research covered a broad range of American foreign and defense policy, the war on terror, and the Iraq War. She has contributed to The Washington Post, Roll Call, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is a guest expert contributor to National Journal’s Energy and Environment blog. Parthemore has a B.A. from The Ohio State University and is a graduate student in Georgetown University's Security Studies Program. Her academic backgrounds lie in international political economy, and unconventional threats and nonproliferation.
Follow us on the Natural Security Blog, on Facebook, and @clparthemore on Twitter.
Areas of Expertise
- Natural Security
- Nuclear and Nonproliferation Issues
Author(s): Jackie Northam
Source: NPR
Date: 08/11/2010
August 11, 2010 - As flooding in Pakistan worsens, CNAS Fellow Christine Parthemore comments to NPR on the security implications of the humanitarian crisis.
| more |Author(s): Annie Snider
Source: Politics Daily
Date: 05/30/2010
May 30, 2010 - CNAS Fellow Christine Parthemore discusses the evolution of the Navy's preparations for dealing with climate change in an interview with Politics Daily.
| more |Author(s): Christine Parthemore, Will Rogers
Source: Roll Call
Date: 05/20/2010
May 20, 2010 – Christine Parthemore and Will Rogers examine in on Sen. Lamar Alexander’s proposal to house nuclear reactors on military bases ion a new op-ed in Roll Call, arguing that the potential benefits of the proposal must be weighed against “materials proliferation, water usage, radioactive waste management and public opinion [concerns].”
| more |Author(s): Juliet Eilperin
Source: The Washington Post
Date: 04/29/2010
April 29, 2010 – The Washington Post’s Juliet Eilperin highlights the growing recognition that climate change is a national security threat, citing CNAS’ recently released reports on the military’s adaptation to climate change and the need for increased cooperation between climate scientists and policymakers.
| more |Author(s): Tamara Lytle
Source: AOL News
Date: 04/21/2010
April 20, 2010 – CNAS Fellow Christine Parthemore explains the balancing act the U.S. military faces in adapting to climate change to AOL News, saying “We can't say, 'Oh, we should fly less…The goal has to be to fulfill U.S. military missions. What we need to do is ensure we have sustainable supplies of those fuels over the long term.”
| more |Author(s): Dina Fine Maron
Source: Greenwire
Date: 04/09/2010
April 9, 2010 - In an interview with E&E's Dina Fine Maron, CNAS Bacevich Fellow Christine Parthemore echoes her call in a recent CNAS working paper that the Army and National Guard must increase their efforts to assess global warming's potential impacts on the United States and its present and future military missions around the world.
| more |Author(s): Xie Yanmei
Source: China Dialogue
Date: 03/25/2010
March 25, 2010 - CNAS researchers Christine Parthemore and Will Rogers sit down with Xie Yanmeih of China Dialogue to discuss how DoD is adapting to climate change and the role of the QDR in that adaptation. “[The QDR] doesn’t claim to know what future threats might come out of it or where instability is most likely to happen,” says Parthemore, “but it does say that, in the near term, climate-change effects such as sea-level rise or drought could impact some of the areas where the military has large installations.”
| more |Author(s): Amy Harder
Source: National Journal
Date: 02/16/2010
February 16, 2010 - CNAS Fellow Christine Parthemore comments on the uncertain nexus between climate change and the rise of terrorism in National Journal, saying "terrorism doesn't necessarily derive from instability. The causes of terrorism are extraordinarily complex, and there is a lot of good work understanding it, but nothing is ever that simple."
| more |Author(s): Suzanne Goldenberg
Source: The Guardian
Date: 01/31/2010
January 31, 2010 - CNAS fellow Christine Parthemore discusses the Pentagon's consideration of climate change in the QDR in an article in The Guardian, "The leadership of the Pentagon has very strongly indicated that they do consider climate change to be a national security issue...They are considering climate change on a par with the political and economic factors as the key drivers that are shaping the world."
| more |Author(s): Colin Sullivan
Source: The New York Times
Date: 12/23/2009
December 23, 2009 - CNAS Fellow Christine Parthemore argues against the oversimplification of water scarcity as a source of conflict in The New York Times.
| more |Author(s): Abraham Denmark, Christine Parthemore, Rizal Sukma
Type of Publication: Report
Date: 06/04/2010
As the United States and Indonesia negotiate the bilateral Comprehensive Partnership Agreement, this report recommends strengthening economic and security cooperation between the two countries while helping Indonesia build capacity to contribute to regional and global challenges like climate change, economic integration and increased security cooperation.
| more |Author(s): Christine Parthemore, Will Rogers
Type of Publication: Report
Date: 06/03/2010
In the 21st century, the security of nations will depend increasingly on the security of natural resources, or “natural security.” This report points to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Mexico and Yemen as examples for how natural security challenges within those countries borders are directly linked to regional stability and U.S. security and foreign policy interests.
| more |Author(s): Herb Carmen, Christine Parthemore, Will Rogers
Type of Publication: Report
Date: 04/28/2010
Broadening Horizons is an edited volume featuring four chapters and a capstone piece that explores the dual pressures of climate change and energy on each U.S. military service and combatant command and offers a road ahead to improve the country's ability to promote national security in the face of a changing climate.
| more |Author(s): Herb Carmen, Christine Parthemore, Will Rogers
Type of Publication: Report
Date: 04/22/2010
The Broadening Horizons capstone report, authored by CNAS Senior Military Fellow Commander Herbert E. Carmen, USN, CNAS Bacevich Fellow Christine Parthemore and CNAS Research Assistant Will Rogers, provides an overview of the implications of climate change for DOD, the military services and the combatant commands, and makes recommendations to help the United States better navigate the potential geopolitical implications of the changing climate.
| more |Author(s): Herb Carmen, Christine Parthemore, Will Rogers
Type of Publication: Working Papers
Date: 04/22/2010
In this working paper, CNAS Senior Military Fellow Commander Herbert E. Carmen, USN, CNAS Bacevich Fellow Christine Parthemore and CNAS Research Assistant Will Rogers focus on the six geographic combatant commands as a way to address the effects of climate change and related energy security challenges on U.S. national security interests in regions across the globe.
| more |Author(s): Christine Parthemore
Type of Publication: Working Papers
Date: 04/07/2010
In this working paper, CNAS Bacevich Fellow Christine Parthemore identifies important aspects of what the effects of climate change could mean for U.S. ground forces, and highlights important questions for further research.
| more |Author(s): Christine Parthemore
Type of Publication: Working Papers
Date: 03/11/2010
In this working paper, CNAS Bacevich Fellow Christine Parthemore synthesizes how the maritime services are thinking about climate change and assesses potential policy implications.
| more |Author(s): Christine Parthemore, Will Rogers
Type of Publication: Working Papers
Date: 01/24/2010
In this working paper, CNAS Bacevich Fellow Christine Parthemore and Research Assistant Will Rogers provide observations about how the Department of Defense incorporated climate change into the QDR process in order to meet its congressional requirement and some potential outcomes of that process.
| more |Author(s): Christine Parthemore
Type of Publication: Working Papers
Date: 06/11/2009
On April 29, 2009, the Center for a New American Security convened a group of scientists, investors, business executives, academics, nonprofit representatives, defense professionals, and federal, state, and local officials to discuss how to implement President Obama’s energy and climate security goals. This report is a compilation and analysis of the proceedings of this April 29 Big Energy Map conference.
| more |Author(s): Sharon Burke, Christine Parthemore
Type of Publication: Working Papers
Date: 06/01/2009
In July 2008, the Center for a New American Security hosted an international climate change “war game,” a future scenario exercise to explore the national security implications of global climate change. This working paper provides major findings from the war game, and background information on how CNAS developed the “2015 World” in which the scenario was set.
| more |Speaker(s): The Honorable Carol M. Browner, Rear Admiral Philip H. Cullom
Type: Transcript
Date: 05/05/2010
On April 28, 2010, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) hosted the event Natural Security: Navigating the Future Global Environment featuring Carol Browner, the Assistant to the President for Climate Change and Energy and a panel that included David Kilcullen, Robert Kaplan, RADM Philip Cullom, and Christine Parthemore. Following the link is the full transcript.
| more |Speaker(s): David Kilcullen, Robert Kaplan, Rear Admiral Philip H. Cullom
Type: Video
Date: 04/28/2010
On April 28, 2010, the Center for a New American Security hosted an event on the effects of climate change on our armed services. Following a keynote address by Carol Browner, the President's Special Assistant for Energy and Climate Change, a panel featuring David Kilcullen, RADM Philip Cullom, Robert Kaplan, and Christine Parthemore discussed the economic, political, and geostrategic dimensions of climate change and the role our national security apparatus will play in addressing them.
| more |Speaker(s): Sharon Burke, Dr. John A. Nagl, Nathaniel C. Fick
Type: Transcript
Date: 07/02/2009
Dr. Andrew Bacevich, Sharon Burke and John Nagl present the 2009 Bacevich Fellowship award to Christine Parthemore in this audio recording from the third annual CNAS Conference on June 11, 2009. CNAS COO Nate Fick delivers closing remarks immediately following the fellowship award.
| more |Speaker(s): Sharon Burke, Dr. John A. Nagl, Nathaniel C. Fick
Type: Audio
Date: 06/11/2009
Dr. Andrew Bacevich, Sharon Burke and John Nagl present the 2009 Bacevich Fellowship award to Christine Parthemore in this audio recording from the third annual CNAS Conference on June 11, 2009. CNAS COO Nate Fick delivers closing remarks immediately following the fellowship award.
| more |Speaker(s): Sharon Burke, Nathaniel C. Fick
Type: Video
Date: 06/11/2009
Dr. Andrew Bacevich, Sharon Burke and John Nagl present the 2009 Bacevich Fellowship award to Christine Parthemore in this video from third annual CNAS Conference on June 11, 2009. CNAS COO Nate Fick delivers closing remarks immediately following the fellowship award.
| more |Speaker(s): Sharon Burke, Roderick G. Eggert, Peter H. Gleick, The Honorable John Warner, Commander Esther J. McClure
Type: Transcript
Date: 06/11/2009
The full transcript of the panel "Natural Security" from the June 11, 2009, conference is available here.
| more |Speaker(s): Sharon Burke, Roderick G. Eggert, Peter H. Gleick, The Honorable John Warner, Commander Esther J. McClure
Type: Video
Date: 06/11/2009
The full video of the panel "Natural Security" from the June 11, 2009, conference is available here.
| more |Speaker(s): John Podesta, Dr. Kurt M. Campbell
Type: Video
Date: 11/05/2007
For the past year a diverse group of experts, under the direction and leadership of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), met regularly to start a new conversation to consider the potential future foreign policy and national security implications of climate change.
| more |05/27/2010
May 27, 2010 - The Center for a New American Security's national security experts offered their comments following the release of the Obama Administration's new National Security Strategy.
| more |04/28/2010
On April 28, 2010, the Center for a New American Security hosted President Obama's Assistant for Energy and Climate Change Policy Carol Browner at an event on Natural Security, a CNAS program that examines how climate change, energy, and natural resources challenges affect U.S. national security. The event will also feature a roundtable discussion among top national security experts - including David Kilcullen, Rear Admiral Philip Cullom, Robert Kaplan and Christine Parthemore - who addressed how these issues affect the current and future global security environment.
| more |04/22/2010
April 22, 2010 - The effects of climate change and the way we use energy are significant U.S. national security challenges. Addressing them will be increasingly important for our nation's defense. The new CNAS report released today, Broadening Horizons: Climate Change and the U.S. Armed Forces, examines the dual pressures of climate change and energy on each U.S.
| more |01/26/2010
As the Department of Defense (DOD) prepares to send the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) to Congress, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) today released a working paper by Christine Parthemore and Will Rogers, Promoting the Dialogue: Climate Change and the Quadrennial Defense Review, examining how DOD considered the effects of climate change during the QDR process.
| more |06/09/2009
WASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 9, 2009 - CNAS has released several new reports and working papers for its third annual conference, “Striking a Balance: A New American Security" on Thursday, June 11. Topics include Iraq, Afghanistan-Pakistan, Natural Security, and combating violent extremism. Each report offers strong, principled and pragmatic recommendations on how to strike a balance between immediate and long-term national security challenges facing the United States.
| more |06/02/2009
Washington, DC, June 2, 2009 - The Center for a New American Security's (CNAS) Clout and Climate Change War Game was featured in the ABC News primetime documentary Earth 2100, which aired June 2, 2009 at 9:00 p.m. EST.
| more |04/06/2009
WASHINGTON, DC, April 6, 2009 - The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and the Vice President for Natural Security, Sharon Burke, are pleased to announce the launch of The Big Energy Map, an interactive map that traces how the federal government is set up to make and execute energy and climate security policy.
Visit the site: http://www.bigenergymap.org
| more |12/12/2008
WASHINGTON, DC, December 10, 2008 - President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden have cited energy independence and tackling climate change as top priorities for their administration. The announcement of their energy and environment team will provide a fuller picture of what form his administration's energy security agenda will take.
But is the federal government up to the task?
09/12/2008
WASHINGTON, DC, September 12, 2008 — The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) held a congressional staff briefing on US policy toward Iran by Dr. James N. Miller, Senior Vice President and Director of Studies at CNAS, and Dr. Suzanne Maloney, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, on September 12, 2008, from 12:00pm to 1:30pm.
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