Department or Program
Environmental Studies
Abstract
The presence of war and armed conflict can cause extreme effects in the long and short term, but war as a concept holds an inherently anthropocentric bias. Among human activities causing severe changes to the environment, war’s consequences are both intensive and far reaching, and while war is incited, perpetrated, and fought specifically by humans, these conflicts come at the expense of all, including a silent victim: the greater environment in which wars take place. Today, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is the most significant confrontation in Europe in decades. Public attention and outrage, however, tends to focus on the spectacular, sudden, or catastrophic violence unfolding in Ukraine. Often forgotten are the longer-term, frequently invisible, and slowly unfolding effects of war. This thesis therefore asks: How does Russia’s deliberate weaponization of environments against Ukraine produce not just immediate, but slow violence as well? Applying Rob Nixon’s theory I argue that slow environmental violence forms a calculated part of Russian military strategy and conquest.
Level of Access
Open Access
First Advisor
Sonja Pieck
Date of Graduation
5-2023
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Recommended Citation
Sheikh, Alexander Campanile, "The Environmental Implications of War: Analysis of the Spectacular and Slow Environmental Violence Inflicted through Russia’s Deliberate Targeting and Weaponization of Ukrainian Environments" (2023). Standard Theses. 309.
https://scarab.bates.edu/envr_studies_theses/309
Number of Pages
59
Open Access
Available to all.