“If we believe the old adage ‘out of crisis, comes opportunity,’ the opportunity has never been greater.” This statement in Sherri Goodman’s “Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership, and the Fight for Global Security” epitomizes the author’s approach to dealing with a key challenge to security in the 21st century: the impacts of climate change. The book offers both a chronological narrative of Goodman’s professional experience and a summation of her assessment of how the world’s changing climate will require reshaping the United States’s approach to national security.
Goodman started as the deputy undersecretary of defense for environmental security for almost eight years in the 1990s. She describes how that experience launched over 30 years of leadership in environment, energy, climate, and the Arctic. Her account mixes storytelling, climate security research, and myriad lessons from the leaders she has collaborated with throughout her career. Her combination of personal narrative and lessons learned along the way makes “Threat Multiplier” a thought-provoking and enjoyable read.
Over the years, many observers have argued that climate change is a distraction or detraction from the Department of Defense’s core mission—to deter conflict and fight and win wars if necessary. Most recently this includes Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in a memorandum to Pentagon leadership. Goodman has been a leading opponent of this position and has given example upon example from senior military officers and civilians showing the connection between climate and security. I challenge anyone to read “Threat Multiplier” and remain skeptical that militaries around the world need to think about climate change.
This book explores “climate security”—how a changing climate affects national security, international security, and human security. This includes vulnerabilities to Defense Department bases, airfields, and ports from hazards such as drought, extreme storms, wildfires, flooding, and permafrost thaw. Operationally, climate change also affects military operations around the world as countries may face a spectrum of unrest, violence, political instability, and conflict. In 2006, Goodman organized a group of generals and admirals to investigate the security implications of climate change. Synthesizing and communicating their efforts at the time, Goodman coined the term “threat multiplier” in a groundbreaking report.
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