Secure and the Dispossessed

While climate scientists and environmentalists despair at the horrific effects of climate change, the powerful see only challenges and opportunities. For them, melting ice caps do not just mean the flooding of vulnerable areas and the displacement of whole countries populations, but newly accessible oil and gas fields. With one eye on the scientific evidence and the other on their global assets, resources and supply chains, powerful states and corporations have been giving increasing thought as to how to maintain control in a world gradually reshaped by climactic extremes. The Secure and the Dispossessed looks at this deadly approach with a highly critical eye. It also considers the flip-side: that the legitimacy of the global elite is under unprecedented pressure - from resistance to attempted oil-grabs in Iraq, to the rise of popular, mass protest movements across the planet. Climate change and international security discourses are shaping international debates about future adaptation and mitigation strategies. This collection of authoritative essays by high profile journalists, academics and activists such as Christian Parenti, Nafeez Ahmed and Oscar Reyes will shape this most important of debates.