Environmental Histories of the Cold War (review)

Not only do the cold war and the development of the environmental movement coincide in time, their histories are also deeply intertwined. Technologies of mass destruction have left deep physical traces, and the postwar development of sciences such as meteorology and atmospheric science have to be discussed in a cold war context. Scientists have played key roles in both developments, as strategic planners, technocratic experts, and peace activists. These connections, and more, are addressed in the new volume Environmental Histories of the Cold War.

The volume is in itself an admirable initiative, as these aspects of the cold war are often neglected. Two main themes (not necessarily connected) are addressed: the impact of the cold war on the environment, as well as how the environment was used as a weapon. At the same time, the volume sketches the history and emergence of the environmental movement, and tells a story of environmentalism as a resistance movement behind the Iron Curtain.

The thirteen contributions paint a picture of the environmental devastation that resulted from the arms race of the superpowers, showing how nuclear tests spread fear and destruction in areas considered unimportant enough to sacrifice, and revealing how nations in their hubris planned to change climate, geography, and weather in their interests. Paul Josephson describes—in an essay as well written as it is appalling—the environmental devastation in the USSR, uncovering how the environment was subordinated to the needs of industry and the military time and time again. The remarkable discussions about environmental, biological, and radiological warfare in America—the possibilities as well as horrors these technologies could offer—are discussed by Jacob Darwin Hamblin. The antagonism between the Geneva Protocol and the American use of herbicides in Vietnam is analyzed in an enlightening essay by David Zierler; the final ratification of the protocol was pushed by peace activists and scientists raging against President Nixon. China’s environmental movement has a story of its own, one pressed between the international cold war situation and the country’s own socialist logics. Here, Bao Maohong retells a story about vast consequences and reactions that came only when the costs of environmental effects were all too obvious.

We all know how the cold war ended, with jubilant resistance movements, fallen walls, and new economic challenges for Eastern Europe. But was the end of the cold war a turning point for the environmental movement? Frank Uekötter argues in an interesting epilogue that it was—but only as a discursive turning point, at least so far. New ambitions for environmental work now could be formulated in the ideological vacuum after the cold war, “making for a turning point in aspirations and hopes rather than in humanity’s ecologic footprint” (p. 351). Although obviously outside the scope of the volume, it would be interesting to draw some parallels to the story of the rise in awareness of climate change, but lack of effective policy responses, of the early 2000s.

One minor point of criticism could be that the essays vary considerably in scope; some texts are narrow and locally situated, while others aim at re-telling broad stories at a transnational level. A more coherent overall question for the essays might have better served the purpose of the ambitious and interesting introduction by Corinna Unger and J. R. McNeill. Still, the initiative as well as the accomplishment must be praised: a comprehensive volume that combines two study fields in a fruitful as well as absorbing way, thereby breaking new ground. The perspectives presented are rich and varied, and they encompass experiences from outside the Western world. In addition, the volume constitutes an important contribution to neighboring fields such as the history of energy, military history, and diplomatic history. And, not least, environmental histories such as these can teach us something about how to build a more eco-friendly world today—in war or peace.