Nation centered thinking and human centered work: A study of the conceptual understanding of, and the practical effects from, environmental security linkages in Moldova

Abstract

The study takes off from two major research gaps of environmental security and environmental securitization theories regarding the conceptual understanding of environmental security and the effects on awareness, financial resources and involved actors from linking environment and security. The aim is to develop the theories and to increase the knowledge of both the conceptual understandings of environmental security and how the linkage between security and environment affects the treatment of environmental issues. The study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with politicians and actors in organizations in Moldova and the results show that the conceptual understanding of environmental security differs from the practical environmental work. In other words -- the understanding foremost goes in line with national security and the practical work is focusing on the protection of the people and in more human security ways. The results also show that the effects from linking security and environment differ between different fields of environmental issues and that they do not fully support the theories of securitization. Further, the results indicate that the effects from a security linkage are not as state-centric as the securitization theories refer to.