User:Muhammadmir1/Resource war

Resource Conflicts

A natural resource conflict is a type of armed conflict caused by competitive violence over resources. Natural resource conflicts are often ontological struggles which involve questions over the ownership and management of resources between the state and armed non state actors. This power dynamic been a significant underlying factor in conflicts historically, however it is prevalent among countries with abundant and highly lootable natural resources

Perspectives

Geopolitical

Under the geopolitical lens for interpreting resource wars, the main rationale behind resource conflict is strategic. It assumes that control over the resource provides a particular advantage to that nation and interprets hostile attempts to take over the resource as a means to acquire that advantage for themselves. Resources that are deemed strategic shift over time and pertain to what is required for economic expansion or success at the time. Examples of this include timber during the seventeenth century for naval development or oil during the twentieth century onward for enabling military technology and transportation.

Environmental security

Also known as the environmental scarcity or political economy, the environmental security perspective interprets resource conflict as a response to resource scarcity. A notable proponent of the environmental security perspective is Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon, a Canadian political scientist and professor at the University of Waterloo. The work of Homer-Dixon focuses on two different phenomena regarding the effect of resources on violent conflict: resource scarcity and resource abundance. Under the environmental security perspective, resource scarcity perpetuates conflict by inciting pressures on a society that is dealing with resource deprivation. According to Homer-Dixon, populations struggling with resource scarcity are also impacted by overpopulation and inequitable resource allocation. Overpopulation and inequitable resource allocation can make resource scarcity even more pronounced, creating a cyclical instability in the society.

Conversely, countries with natural resource abundance are impacted in a different way. Countries that are wealthy in resources have been shown to have disproportionate economic growth, less democracy, and overall insufficient development outcomes. This permeates from an overdependence on their resource from an economic standpoint, where authoritarian traits may begin to take effect. This creates pressure on the citizens as a whole due to undermined governance of the nation and volatile economic state if the resource fluctuates heavily in price. This phenomenon is known as the resource curse.

Conflicts by Resource

Conflict resources are natural resources that are highly contestable and can lead to an eruption of violence over ownership and management. There is both statistical and anecdotal evidence that the presence of precious commodities can prolong conflicts, this is known as the feasibility hypothesis, or resource curse. The extraction and sale of blood diamonds, also known as "conflict diamonds", is a better-known phenomenon which occurs under virtually identical conditions. Petroleum can also be a conflict resource; ISIS used oil revenue to finance its military and terrorist activities. Other commodities are also involved in financing armed conflict.

Water

Main article: water conflict.

Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Main article: Water conflict in the Middle East and North Africa.

From 1949-1953, Israel attempted the construction of several hydrological projects along the Jordan River that resulted in military clashes between Israel and its neighbors that were eventually mediated by the UNTSO . One of the precursors to the Six Day War was the Syrian plan to divert water from the Hasbani and Banias Rivers which are two of the headwaters, or sources, of the Jordan River . The aftermath of the war gave Israel control of the entire Upper Jordan, or the Hula Valley . Additionally, the Yarmouk River—which flows from Syria through Jordan into the Jordan River—flow has decreased over time and Jordan blames Syria for constructing more dams along the Yarmouk than what was agreed on in 1987 and 2000, both of which placed most of the financial burden on Jordan .

In 1975, during a period of severe drought and several large-scaled uncoordinated hydrological projects conducted by Syria, Iraq, and Turkey, Iraq accused Syria of limiting the Euphrates River flow while Syria passed the blame to Turkey . The Iraqi government didn't like the Syrian response and both governments exchanged hostile threats until Saudi Arabia mediated the situation and ended with Syria releasing additional flow from their "own share" . More recently, the environmental consequences including salinity and water availability in Iraq and Syria as a result of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) are being brought to light .

In the 1990s, Sudan threatened to withhold the Nile River flow into Egypt if the 1959 agreement between Egypt and Sudan was not revised to increase Sudan’s share to support their growing agricultural demand. Egypt responded aggressively and warned Sudan to "not to play with fire, at the same time, not to play with water" which sparked fear of a "water war" . Egypt has made several stark comments in the past about the nations water security supply with President Anwar Sadat saying in 1979, "the only matter that would take Egypt to war again is water" in response to Ethiopia's hydrological projects . More recently, the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Ethiopia has caused unease in Egypt due to the Blue Nile River that originates in Ethiopia contributing 86% to the Nile River flow .

History

The concept of 'conflict resource', or 'conflict commodity' is related to the established theoretical framework around the paradox of plenty or resource curse. The resource curse is a theoretical perspective which has been empirically studied in the political science field, the emergence of conflicts whose underlying factor has to do with natural resources has steadily risen since the 90s. They have become more prevalent as commodity prices have risen since the 2008 global financial crisis, leading developing countries which typically followed free-market principles to shift toward extractivism.

Conventions

The concept was first officially discussed by the UN General Assembly in the context of 'conflict diamonds': The UN Security Council has since referred to conflict resources in several resolutions, particularly resolutions 1533 and I698.97.

Since 1996 the Bonn International Center for Conversion has tracked resource governance and conflict intensity by country. Aside from fossil fuels, metals, diamonds, and timber it tracks the governance of other primary goods that might fund conflicts, including: poppy seeds and talc (Afghanistan), rubber (Côte d'Ivoire), cotton (Zambia), and cocoa (Indonesia).

Legal frameworks

Main article: Conflict minerals law.

Several countries and organizations, including the United States, European Union, and OECD have designated tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold connected to conflict in the DRC as conflict minerals and legally require companies to report trade or use of conflict minerals

Examples of Natural Resource Conflicts

Chincha Islands War

One of the most prolific examples of resource war in history is the conflict over Chincha Island guano in the late 19th century. The Chincha Islands of Peru are situated off of the southern coast of Peru, where many seabirds were known to roost and prey on fish brought there by the currents of the Pacific Ocean. The guano of these seabirds is incredibly dense in nutrients and became a sought-after resource as a fertilizer. Soil that was nutrient rich allowed for higher crop yields, which subsequently translated to better sustenance of the population and overall improved economic performance. Known colloquially as "white gold", guano from the Chincha Islands began to catch the interest of Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other industrial powers at the time.

The international interest for that resource resulting in a number of conflicts including the Chincha Islands War between Spain and Peru and the War of the Pacific between Chile, Bolivia, and Peru. Although the primary inciting force of the conflict originated over possession of the nutrient-rich guano, Spain also attempted to exercise prior colonial control over Peru during its aggressions during this conflict. The Chincha Islands guano became a resource of imperialism with foreign nations inciting conflict and establishing dominion over it. In 1856, United States President Franklin Pierce passed the Guano Islands Act with the exclusive purpose of addressing American scarcity over guano. Under the Guano Islands Act, any piece of uninhabited land that harbors a guano deposit could be claimed as a territory of the United States to extract the resource. The legislation acted as a workaround for the United States to access Peruvian seabird guano since direct trade was not an option because of a treaty between Peru and the United Kingdom.

Colombian Civil War ( May 27th 1964-ongoing)

Although historically speaking the Colombian civil war was between the Colombian national government and leftist insurgency FARC. The proliferation and sustenance of conflict has been attributed in the ability of insurgents or armed non state actors to fund themselves in conflict through natural resource extraction and looting.