International Studies Compendium Project

Extract

Comment on this article   Water wars, drug wars, diamond wars, and oil wars have all entered the popular lexicon of international studies. This review essay discusses linkages between natural resources and armed conflicts, focusing on their geographical dimensions. So-called resource wars are classically defined as revolving over the “pursuit or possession of critical materials” ( Klare 2001 :25). Geographically, these wars are frequently represented through world maps of “strategic resources,” combining the physical scarcity and non-substitutability of resources with their uneven spatial distribution and relative geopolitical location to pinpoint “hot-spots” such as the Persian Gulf, the Spratly Islands, and the Arctic Ocean ( Emeny 1934 ; Kemp 1977 ; Klare 2001 ). Yet perspectives on the links between war and resources are much broader than the continuation of resource policies through the use of military force. Similarly, the geographical dimensions of, and geographical perspectives on, these links are more diverse than maps of “strategic” materials. Mostly used in reference to interstate policies, the term “resource wars” was popularized in the 1980s as a shorthand describing renewed tensions between the US and the Soviet Union over the control of fuel and minerals in disputed “peripheries,” notably minerals in southern Africa and oil in the Middle East ( Broad 1980 ; Klare ... log in or subscribe to read full text