Environmental Dimensions of Disarmament and Conversion

Abstract

The 1990s mark the beginnings of an era in which fundamental change occurs in two domains critical to the future of human existence. The first is the realm of national and international security. National security has been and still is invoked to justify the relentless pursuit of military prowess -- the maintenance of large armed forces, the deployment of ever deadlier weapons systems, and the frequent intervention in the affairs of weaker nations. But the end of the Cold War provides a unique opportunity to dismantle and convert to peaceful uses a large portion of national war-making capacities and to redirect society’s priorities. The second area is the fate of the biosphere. The assault on the environment has reached crisis proportions, threatening to exhaust the earth’s regenerative capacity. Humanity now stands at the threshold to irreversible degradation of many of the natural systems that underpin all of human life. At the same time, though, environmental awareness is soaring in many countries and the concept, of “ecological sustainability” is gaining ground as an alternative approach to economic development, suggesting that the current destructive path may yet be abandoned.¹