Governing for the Environment: Global Problems, Ethics and Democracy, Brendan Gleeson and Nicholas Low, eds. (Hampshire: Palgrave Publishers Ltd., 2001), 255 pp., $65 cloth

R ecent Books on Ethics and Internati onal A f fa i rs In 2 0 01, the 1 1,0 0 0 c i ti zens of the arch ipel a go of Tuva lu—a small island state cons i s ting of nine islands in the Pac i f i c O ce a n — a n n o u n ced that they would begi n to em i gra te from their hom eland in 2 0 02. What was most notewort hy abo ut this a n n o u n cem ent was the claim that they would be doing so as “envi ron m en t a l ref u gee s .” Cl i m a te ch a n ge has made thei r island inhospitabl e : Mel ting gl ac i ers and the thermal ex p a n s i on of the ocean have ra i s ed sea levels causing lowland flood i n g, coastal ero s i on , and saltwater intru s i on on the islands; h i gh er su rf ace water tem peratu res have re su l ted in an increase in trop ical cycl ones du ring the last dec ade . So they wi ll leave . The case of Tuva lu is one of a small but growing nu m ber of re a l world scen a rios that ex pose several ethical qu e s ti ons rel evant to gl obal envi ron m ental govern a n ce . For ex a mp l e , can citi zens of an en ti re state be compen s a ted for the loss of t h eir terri tory, w ay of l i fe , and cultu re? Who should be re s pon s i bl e for com pen s a ting the citi zens of Tuva lu ? How do events in Tuva lu influ en ce our n o ti on of s overei gn ty and our ethical eva lua ti on of n a ti onal re s ponses to gl obal issu e s su ch as cl i m a te ch a n ge? Can ex i s ting gl ob a l i n s ti tuti ons deal with these types of qu e sti on s , or do we need new insti tuti ons or new s tru ctu res for intern a ti onal govern a n ce ? G l obal envi ron m ental govern a n ce is curren t ly a popular topic among envi ron m en t a l Governing for the Envi ro n m ent: Gl obal Probl em s ,Et h i cs and Dem o cra c y, Brendan Gleeson and Nicholas Low, eds. (Hampshire: Palgrave Publishers Ltd., 2001), 255 pp., $65 cloth. The boo k , h owever, does not explain how the Am erican mach i n ery for making mu l til a teral policy grew ru s ty and part ly abandon ed . One re a s on is the decline in influ en ce and re ach of the State Dep a rtm en t’s Bu re a u of In tern a ti onal Orga n i z a ti on Af f a i rs . An o t h er is that, in con trast to the diplom a tic servi ces of a ll other com p a ra ble nati on s , the U. S . Forei gn Servi ce has no formal spec i a l i z a ti on in intern a ti onal or ga n i z a ti on s and mu l ti l a teral diplom acy for its mem bers . An important part of Am erican ambiva l en ce tow a rd mu l ti l a teralism is the growing inabi li ty of the Un i ted States to make re a l i s ti c , cons i s ten t , and well con s i dered mu l ti l a tera l po l i c y. A good analysis of t h i s , and recomm en d a ti ons for its cure , would have made the book even more va lu a ble for practi ti oners and spec i a l i s t s . Even so, this book is indispen s a ble for a nyone seri o u s ly intere s ted in the dangerous and ti m ely com p l ex of probl ems and a t ti tu des it ad d re s s e s . Non Am eri c a n s s tru ggling to understand the od d i ties of U. S . mu l ti l a teral beh avi or wi ll find it espec i a lly usef u l . Those trying to find a way back to ra ti onal Am erican parti c i p a ti on in the i n tern a ti onal insti tuti ons and proce s s e s that world crises and dangers demand wi ll n eed mu ch more fact finding and analys i s of this kind and at the high standard this book has set . —John L. Washburn United Nations Association