NATO workshop focuses on energy and environmental risks facing the Alliance

Brussels, 17 September 2012

Food scarcity, natural disasters, the management and distribution of scarce water resources, and the interruption of vital energy supplies are examples of seemingly unrelated factors that can have an effect on security.

On 17 September 2012, a NATO workshop was held to look at how such factors and vulnerabilities interact, how they could affect NATO member states and ways in which the Alliance could respond to these security risks.

IES Senior Advisor and Vienna Representative, Marc Baltes, and IES Senior Advisor, Ikaros Moushouttas, were among the expert participants. IES Fellow, Dr Chad Briggs and Dr Tracy Walstrom Briggs – both experts from the Air University Minerva Initiative on Energy and Environmental Security at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, the United States – developed the scenario-building approach.

The workshop was not about predicting future crises but instead focused on better understanding the various factors that may lead to instability. By understanding these factors, participants hoped to expand their strategic horizon.

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