Lateral Pressure Theory as Applied to Global Warming: An Initial Assessment

Abstract

Environmental problems that are global in scale involve both socio-economic and ecological processes, and understanding the politics of these problems may require applications of alternative theories of inter national relations, as well as more mainstream theories. Both sets of theories may need to be reformulated and respecified before they prove useful. This article explores the applicability of the theory of lateral pressure to a specific global environmental problem, the problem of global warming. Lateral pressure theory is an alternative approach that repre sents a promising effort to integrate environmental factors into a theory of international relations. However, its application to the problem of global warming will require added specification of the theory and expan sion of its causal links. Factors hitherto bypassed by the theory appear indispensible for analyzing how the global community will respond to this complex and novel set of problems.