Center for a New American Security

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.

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.

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.

In July 2008, CNAS, with a consortium of ten partner organizations, hosted “Clout and Climate Change,” an international climate change “war game” to explore the national security implications of global climate change. CNAS provided this briefing book to participants in advance of the game, set in the year 2015, to prepare them for the event.

In the summer of 2008, Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Gary Roughead, asked the Center for a New American Security to conduct a brief survey of the challenges global climate change may pose for the U.S. Navy over the next 30 years.

In a speech on November 18, 2008, President-Elect Barack Obama defined the nation’s energy posture as an economic, strategic, and environmental vulnerability and reaffirmed campaign promises that his administration would place a high priority on improving the nation’s energy security.

The next American president must come to office with an Iran plan ready to implement on Day One of his administration. That plan should center on conducting game-changing diplomacy with Iran.

Dealing with Iran and its nuclear program will be an urgent priority for the next president. In order to evaluate U.S. policy options, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) convened a bipartisan group of experts on foreign policy and national security, retired military personnel, former diplomats and other government officials, and specialists on Iran and the region. Ambassador Dennis Ross presented a paper on diplomatic strategies for dealing with Iran, and Dr. Suzanne Maloney wrote on potential Iranian responses. Dr. Ashton Carter evaluated various U.S. military options, and Dr. Vali Nasr described likely Iranian reactions and other potential impacts. Ambassador Richard Haass considered the challenges of living with a nuclear Iran. Each of these papers represents an important contribution to a much-needed national discussion on U.S. policy toward Iran. Based on these papers and expert group discussion, as well as additional research and analysis, three CNAS authors (Dr. James Miller, Christine Parthemore, and Dr. Kurt Campbell) proposed that the next administration pursue “game-changing diplomacy” with Iran. While both Iran and the international community would be better off if Iran plays ball, game-changing diplomacy is designed to improve prospects for the United States and the international community irrespective of how Iran responds.

To protect the American way of life and secure the future, the United States needs an energy security strategy that will cut both our dependence on oil and our greenhouse gas emissions. Today, the energy we use keeps our economy and security dependent on unstable and hostile states, vulnerable to natural disasters, and subject to the consequences of climate change. With a comprehensive strategy to change both our supply of fuels and our demand, the United States can win the energy war, just as the strategy of containment helped win the Cold War. This report gives an overview of the nature of the energy challenge, the main elements of a strategy for energy security, and then offers a plan of action for how to actually execute that strategy.

Global climate change poses not only environmental hazards but profound risks to planetary peace and stability as well. Climatic Cataclysm gathers experts on climate science, oceanography, history, political science, foreign policy, and national security to take the measure of these risks.