IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/fswixx/v37y2026i4p888-916.html

The water and the fish: counterinsurgency models for climate-induced violence

Author

Listed:
  • Shachar Heller
  • Elai Rettig

Abstract

Extreme climate conditions can weaken governance and expand opportunities for violent actors to take control over dwindling resources, yet counterinsurgency (COIN) literature rarely treats climate change as an operational driver. This study introduces a Counterinsurgency Induced by Climate Change (COIN-CC) framework for mitigating organized violence by coupling security studies with climate science. It links resource degradation with increased dependence on non-state providers and illicit economies, and examines how climate data, adaptation training, education, and targeted operations help weaken this link. The framework specifies the limits under which climate-focused counterinsurgency is effective, yielding testable propositions for conflict management during environmental shocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Shachar Heller & Elai Rettig, 2026. "The water and the fish: counterinsurgency models for climate-induced violence," Small Wars and Insurgencies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 888-916, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:fswixx:v:37:y:2026:i:4:p:888-916
    DOI: 10.1080/09592318.2026.2640225
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/09592318.2026.2640225
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/09592318.2026.2640225?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:fswixx:v:37:y:2026:i:4:p:888-916. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/fswi .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.