ABSTRACT
This chapter draws from multiple theories in environmental sociology to assess the extent to which economic development and national militaries contribute to environmental harms. It begins with a discussion of the treadmill of production and metabolic rift approaches, both of which focus on the environmental consequences of economic development. Next, the chapter introduces readers to the treadmill of destruction perspective, a relatively new approach that highlights the environmental impacts of militaries. Prior to summarizing the findings for the study and their relevance for the engaged theoretical orientations, it describes the modeling techniques, samples, and variables included in the analyses. The results show that economic development and nations' militaries both contribute significantly and independently to different forms of environmental degradation. Following the results section, the chapter concludes with a call for political-economy of the world-system (PEWS) scholars to pay closer attention to the world's growing environmental crisis and to employ rigorous quantitative methods in future comparative research.
