Overview

The international community is increasingly concerned about environmental issues. This is reflected in the increase of international environmental organizations, the investment nations are making to protect the environment, and the fact that environmental issues are taking center stage during meetings between world leaders.

There is a general consensus that national and international security has an important environmental dimension. How nations use natural resources to foster economic development often determines what kinds of societies are likely to emerge. When long-term viability of the environment is ignored, economic development is not likely to be sustained long; eastern Europe provides a vivid example. Such policies also provide an indication of governmental attitudes toward other social issues internally and toward international responsibilities. The cost of cleanup of past environmental degradation can become a significant proportion of a nation s GNP, and thus exceed its ability to undertake the cleanup effort, as is the case in eastern Europe at this time. Regional environmental degradation could severely affect the health of its population and its economic base to a point that national and international security could be perceptibly affected for years to come.

Would a process for environmental impact assessment (EIA) process have helped to eliminate some of the environmental problems in eastern Europe? Should donor countries insist on a formal EIA process before providing financial aid? Should other countries replicate the formalized EIS process of the United States? These are all important questions for the international community to address.

Whether all provisions of NEPA are...