The Environment and International History (New Approaches to International History)

Studies of the history of international relations traditionally have focused on the decisions made by those at the highest levels of government. In more recent years, scholars have expanded their attention to cover economic, cultural, or social interactions among nations. What has remained largely ignored, however, is the impact of an increasingly-interdependent world upon the environment and, conversely, how environmental concerns have affected the ecology, social relationships, economics, and politics at national, regional, and global levels. The Environment and International History fills this gap, looking at the interrelationship between international politics and the environment. Using a transnational and interdisciplinary approach, this book examines how imperialism, war, and a divergence of interests between the developed and underdeveloped world all have had implications for plants, animals, and humans worldwide. Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Preface Chapter 1 Anthropocentric environmentalism Placing (European) humans first Scrambles in Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific Enter the environmentalists? To the 1900 convention The 1902 bird convention Marine life World war New hope? Chapter 2 From war through war Whaling Oil pollution Fisheries The 1933 convention Birds in North America Transboundary pollution A World again at war The United Nations Chapter 3 Cold war, science, and the environment Containment, fisheries, and whaling Korea Science, nature, and the cold war The Great Leap Forward The atomic arms race From moratorium to test ban Victory for the environmentalists? Chapter 4 Silent Spring, Stockholm, and the North-South divide The new environmentalism Vietnam and the environment Marine life Decolonization and the North-South divide LDCs and the environment Stockholm Stockholm’s legacy Omens Chapter 5 Creating regimes Stockholm: A legacy lacking The Anglo-American shift Marine life Acid rain and the climate conundrum The ozone quandary Chernobyl The Persian Gulf War Addressing ozone Hazardous waste To Rio The Rio conference The resistance to environmental regimes Chapter 6 The Anthropocene epoch? Addressing the Rio Agenda NAFTA Marine life Hazardous waste The ozone layer and climate change Johannesburg The challenges persist The climate conundrum continues Paris Nuclear power and plastics In the Anthropocene? Conclusion: Accomplishments and challenges Accomplishments Challenges at sea Challenges on land: Poaching, poison, and radiation Demographic challenges The atmospheric challenge: Climate change Notes Index