The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens The National Security Risks We’re Not Prepared For: Adapting In an Age of Actorless Threats with Rod Schoonover
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Jun 18, 2025 
Rod Schoonover, CEO of the Ecological Futures Group and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, discusses the shifting landscape of national security. He emphasizes how modern threats stem from complex systems breakdowns rather than direct confrontations between nations. Key topics include the urgent need for reform in national security to address ecological challenges, the impact of climate change on global stability, and the importance of transparency and political leadership to foster resilience. Schoonover urges for a transformative shift in how we perceive and tackle these multifaceted threats.
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New Actorless Threats Emerge
- 21st century threats lack a clear actor unlike traditional national security threats.
- Climate change and ecosystem destabilization challenge old doctrines designed for actor-based threats.
Ecological Risk Ignored by Security
- Rod Schoonover shifted from academia to intelligence upon discovering planetary boundaries.
- He noticed the security sector largely ignores critical ecological science impacting national security.
Climate-Security Report's Impact and Silence
- The 2008 climate-security report is groundbreaking but remains classified, hindering action.
- Risk is underestimated as disaster response and climate monitoring funding decline.