Threat Multiplier - by Sherri Goodman (Hardcover)

About the Book

Threat Multiplier takes us onto the battlefield and inside the Pentagon to show how the US military is confronting the biggest security risk in global history: climate change. We learn how the military evolved from an environmental laggard to a climate and clean energy leader. And we discover how a warming world exacerbates every threat--from hurricanes and forest fires, to competition for increasingly scarce food and water, to terrorism and power plays by Russia and China. The Pentagon now considers climate in war games, disaster relief planning, international diplomacy, and even the design of its own bases. No one knows the stakes better than Sherri Goodman, the Pentagon's first Chief Environmental Officer, also known as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security). In Threat Multiplier, she offers a front row seat to the military's fight for global security, a tale that is as hopeful as it is harrowing.

Book Synopsis

Threat Multiplier takes us onto the battlefield and inside the Pentagon to show how the US military is confronting the biggest security risk in global history: climate change. More than thirty years ago, when Sherri Goodman became the Pentagon's first Chief Environmental Officer, no one would have imagined this role for our armed forces.

Indeed, for much of the twentieth century, the Department of Defense (DOD) was better known for containing the Soviet nuclear threat than protecting the environment. And yet, today, the military has moved from an environmental laggard to a clean energy and climate leader, recognizing that a warming world exacerbates every threat--from hurricanes and forest fires, to competition for increasingly scarce food and water, to terrorism and power plays by Russia and China. The Pentagon now considers climate in war games, disaster relief planning, international diplomacy, and even the design of its own bases.

What was the key to this dramatic change in military thinking? What keeps today's generals and admirals up at night? How can we safeguard our national defense and our planet? No one is better poised to answer these questions than Sherri Goodman, who was at the vanguard of environmental leadership among our armed forces and civilian representatives. In Threat Multiplier, she tells the inside story of the military's fight for global security, a tale that is as hopeful as it is harrowing.

Review Quotes

"A memoir by a fighter in a decades-long campaign to make U.S. defense policy take climate change and the environment seriously.... what is distinctive, even special, about Goodman's book is her description of how she moved from academia to Senate staff work to a senior Pentagon position to a perch in the think tank universe. That is a successful career, even a highly successful one, but it is also the sort of trajectory that rarely gets documented.... Goodman's perspective is valuable. It's a reminder that progress can be made, however slowly it may go. More significantly, it's a reminder that progress mostly has less to do with sudden revolutionary change than with the steady work of repeating oneself in nice conference rooms in the hopes of catching the ear of people who can change policy ever so slightly."-- "The Washington Post"

"As a conservation leader, I want to protect our planet's precious natural resources for future generations. Sherri Goodman shows us how the military is doing its part and why natural resource conservation and climate change are core components of global security, as seen through the eyes of the nation's top military leaders."---Carter Roberts, President and CEO, World Wildlife Fund US

"As Secretary of Defense, my job was to protect the nation from all manner of threats. Climate change was one of those threats. But it's not just one among a list of many. It's the threat that multiplies all others. Sherri Goodman gives us a first-hand account of how climate change affects the military and our national security - and the steps we must take to build a more secure future."---Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense

"As Secretary of Defense, I observed how our allies and partners face direct risks to their stability from a changing climate. Sherri Goodman's insiders' view shows us how our nation's military leaders are making decisions that improve our global resilience to climate change."---Chuck Hagel, former Secretary of Defense and US Senator

"Climate change adds additional instability to a world already disrupted by strategic competition with China, Russia and Iran, two regional wars, and mounting challenges from new technologies such as AI and cyber. Sherri Goodman shows how the US military is managing these risks and why a bipartisan approach to building a more resilient future supports our national security."---Stephen J. Hadley, former US National Security Advisor

"For anyone interested in climate change and U.S. national security, Threat Multiplier is a must-read book. Goodman offers a compelling history of the Pentagon's pivot to consider climate change as a major security threat and provides invaluable insights to guide future defense policy in dealing with this growing danger."---Michèle Flournoy, former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy

"No one understands better than Sherri Goodman how a changing climate is reshaping our national security, and how leaders, both military and civilian, must integrate these risks and opportunities into our global future. Threat Multiplier offers an insider's perspective on how climate and energy affect national security strategy and our military operations."---Fred Kempe, President and CEO, Atlantic Council

"Over the course of my naval career, I came to appreciate how climate change was affecting global politics--literally altering the geostrategic landscape. Sherri Goodman tells the untold story of how many of our nation's military leaders came to appreciate this challenge and recognize climate change as one of the key global threats of our age."---Admiral James Stavridis, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and co-author of '2054: A Novel'

"Sherri Goodman draws on her own experience and that of many military leaders to make a compelling case that climate change serves as a catalyst for conflict in vulnerable parts of the world and can weaken our security at home if we don't act now to build resilience to these complex geopolitical risks. Her message is a bipartisan call to act today to protect our national security in the future."---Michael Chertoff, former Secretary of Homeland Security

"Sherri Goodman tells the stories of how military leaders like myself experience the changing climate in our missions, from drought to storms. She helps us understand how we can better prepare and adapt, showing that the threat multiplier of climate change can become the opportunity multiplier of smart solutions."---General (Ret) Tom Middendorp, former Dutch Chief of Defense, and Chairman, International Military Council on Climate & Security

"The climate crisis has enormous national security implications, and no one knows that better than Sherri Goodman, who long ago coined the phrase 'threat multiplier' to capture the ways this environmental wrecking ball would inform policymakers in situation rooms everywhere. There is no one better to take readers along on the Pentagon's journey wrestling with this new and evolving reality implicating basing, training, peacekeeping, and much more. A must read for everyone who wants to understand why climate imperatives aren't just for environmentalists."---John F. Kerry, former Secretary of State and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

"This is an immensely informative and very important book. The story of how climate change and global security are intertwined--and how the US Department of Defense grasped this reality to become the US government leader in embedding climate-change resilience into its core responsibilities--is told here by a woman whose deep insight and remarkable political skill helped her do more than anybody to achieve this stunning result."---John P. Holdren, Harvard University, former Science Advisor to the President

"When the scientific understanding of climate change and its impacts was just beginning to solidify, Sherri Goodman realized that climate change will be at the very heart of military security, for the United States and every other country. Her leadership on climate change as a threat multiplier has been the stimulus for a rich and dynamic body of scholarship and policy. This book connects the threads that link the science and the strategy. And it points the way to a safe world."---Christopher Field, Director, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment

"When I led US forces in the Middle East, conflict, not climate change, was at the front of my mind. Yet I could see how the two are inextricably intertwined, with climate change multiplying the threats that lead to conflict. Sherri Goodman makes those connections in this excellent book - one I would recommend to all military leaders."---General Anthony Zinni, former Commander, US Central Command

"When I led US forces in Europe and Latin America, I witnessed how a changing climate creates instability, from weather extremes to environmental degradation. Threat Multiplier is a must read for military, civilian, and humanitarian leaders who want to understand how a changing climate and the energy transition affect decision making on these critical global challenges."---General Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander

"A thought-provoking and enjoyable read... I challenge anyone to read Threat Multiplier and remain skeptical that militaries around the world need to think about climate change."-- "Lawfare"

"Provides valuable insights on the role of science and technology in the "greening" of the US military...Her accessible writing style and the personal anecdotes she brings to the narrative provide a welcome humanization of the military's work in the context of environmental policy. This book will be an important chronicle of a pivotal period in global environmental and military history."-- "Science Magazine"

About the Author

A pioneer in sustainability and national security, Sherri Goodman is among the most respected international voices on emerging global risks, including energy and climate security, environment, and public health. The Pentagon's first-ever Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security), Sherri led efforts to transform the Department of Defense into a leader in sustainability, climate resilience, and advanced energy. Today she serves as Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate & Security. Her book Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership, and the Fight for Global Security gives readers an inside account, from the Pentagon to the battlefield, of today's military on the front lines of a changing climate, the energy transition, technology upheavals, and new health challenges.