Martin O’Malley: Climate Change Created ISIS

Monday, on Bloomberg’s “With All Due Respect,” Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley said “the rise of ISIS, was the effect of climate change,” and in his administration he would solve problems before they get to the point where only a military option is available.

O’Malley said, “I believe we’re in search of a new story that makes sense of our fundamental principles in a world that is now very different from the 1990’s or from the Cold War. And I believe America’s role in the world is to lead by example [with] the rise of a global middle class. And I believe that the way we do that in these times, is to create a foreign policy that’s more about engagement and collaboration, and national security strategy, that seeks new alliances to identify threats, and to work with other nations, to reduce them before we’re kind of backed into a corner where it seems the only response is a military response, American boots on the ground or not.”

He explained, “For example, one of the things that preceded the failure of the nation state of Syria and the rise of ISIS, was the effect of climate change and the megadrought that affected that nation, wiped out farmers, drove people to cities, created a humanitarian crisis that created the symptoms — or rather, the conditions — of extreme poverty that has now led to the rise of ISIS and this extreme violence.”

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