The Stream, July 6: Climate Change and Security

A newly released report by the Institute for Policy Studies suggests that reallocating defence spending towards tackling climate change might be the only solution to the Obama administration’s military budget woes, IPS News reported. The study also says that the U.S. Department of Defense “has begun to recognize climate change as a major security threat even as federal government funding to address the issue has begun to be cut in FY 2012.”

Ma Jun, a leading environmental campaigner in China, discusses the challenges of China’s boom at a Chinadialogue event in London. Also check out Circle of Blue’s Q&A with Ma Jun about China’s water-energy nexus.

From the Foreign Affairs archives: Although oil has always figured prominently in Saudi Arabia studies, a new book traces Saudi policies concerning oil and water since the 1920s.

Another book reviewed here by Foreign Affairs tries to dissect the debate over whether urban water supplies should be publicly or privately owned.

Meanwhile, this AlterNet opinion piece argues that the United Nations is facilitating a corporate takeover of drinking water.

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