Reading: Erosion of State Sovereignty

A reading titled ‘Climate Change, the Erosion of State Sovereignty, and World Order’ by Francesco Femia and Caitlin E. Werell that discusses how climate change can potentially stress natural resources and its effect on state stability and sovereignty. The reading discusses different threats to state sovereignty and potential causes of political instability, conflict and state collapse with respect to climate change induced natural resource stress. 

Students will learn about how climate change causes stress on a state’s natural resources and how it impacts its functioning and development. They will also learn about different types of state structures and their vulnerability to climate change induced human migration, political instability and conflict. 

Use this tool to help your students find answers to: 

1. How does climate change affect the internal security of a country?
2. Discuss the six types of erosion of sovereignty from the reading.

About the tool: 

Tool Name	Climate Change, the Erosion of State Sovereignty, and World Order
Discipline	Social Sciences, International Relations
Topic(s) in Discipline	International Studies, Geopolitics, Peace and Conflict Studies, Security, State Sovereignty, Human Migration, War
Climate Topic	Policies, Politics, and Environmental Governance; Climate and Society
Type of tool	Reading
Grade Level	Undergraduate
Location	Global
Language	English
Translation
Developed by	Francesco Femia and Caitlin E. Werrell in Epicenters of Climate and Security: The New Geostrategic Landscape of the Anthropocene eds Caitlin E. Werrell and Francesco Femia
Hosted at	The Center for Climate and Security
Link	Link
Access	Online/Offline
Computer Skills	Basic