Climate Change Response as an Emerging Battlespace in the South China Sea: Earning Trust and Credibility through HADR Exercises

Abstract

Climate change offers a unique opportunity for the United States to flex soft power in the SCS. Incorporating climate change resilience and response into its operations with partner nations is an important method for the U.S. to counter Chinas grip, increase U.S. validity in the region, and strengthen regional organizations. INDOPACOM should actively plan for operations to respond to and combat climate change because it will counter Chinas influence and grow U.S. influence in the region. Actions to engage in combatting climate change are not just political offshoots secondary to primary objectives. Combatting climate change supports the primary objective of countering China, and is a non-threatening means to develop partner capability. Nesting climate change within the framework of competing for influence in the region both provides opportunities for engagement with SCS claimants who are reticent for closer military cooperation and nests competition with China in a positive and affirmative vision of the free world.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 09, 2021
Accession Number
AD1144415

Entities

People

  • Catherine Reppert

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Climate Change
  • Department Of Defense
  • Disaster Management
  • Disasters
  • Floods
  • Foreign Relations
  • Governments
  • Humanitarian Assistance
  • Maritime Domain Awareness
  • Military Operations
  • National Security
  • Natural Disasters
  • Storm Surges
  • United States
  • United States Pacific Command
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Asian Economic Studies
  • Economics