The United States National Security And Policy Implications Of Desertification

Contemporary climate security literature reveals that desertification appears to be overlooked as a climate change security threat to the United States (US). This investigation demonstrates that an inequity exists between sea-level-rise- and desertification-based climate security literature. This inequity may reveal that the US may be ignoring desertification at a time when land use in some dryland areas is reaching a critical point where it can no longer support human activity. Due to the interdisciplinary nature (science and security) of this work, a review of the terminology used in the article is provided to establish a baseline understanding of “desertification” and other arid land-based processes, and “securitization” and climate security. An overview of what domestic and international desertification looks like is presented so that the types of threats that desertification presents can be realized. The domestic scenario discusses the US’ core deserts, reveals the fact that desertification is already affecting the US, and how future desertification in the US may expand. The drying of the Earth (dubbed “dearth”), in terms of surface and ground water, are considered, along with the expectation of increasing dust and wildfires and their effects. Lastly, direct examples of military operations that have already been affected are discussed. Since the risks of desertification are not limited to domestic occurrences, the effects of international desertification that have the potential to impact US national security are also considered. For the international scenario, the US Intelligence Community (IC) identifies 11 countries and two regions where climate change poses a serious threat. Among these countries and regions, desertification is the greater concern in terms of the number of entities that are affected. A review of the types of threats that international desertification creates is presented along with the expected role that the US will play. A policy review is also considered with a quick examination of the government’s most recent actions to combat climate change. Again, this review reveals that desertification is simply not on the climate change agenda as even the preeminent government document, the Fifth National Climate Assessment, does not fully recognize desertification. It appears that the US is ignoring the desertification threat and that this oversight may leave the US vulnerable to climatic effects that it is not currently accounting for.