Resource war

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A resource war is a type of war caused by conflict over resources. In a resource war, there is typically a nation or group that controls the resource and an aggressor that wishes to seize control over said resource. This power dynamic between nations has been a significant underlying factor in conflicts since the late 19th century. [1] Following the rise of industrialization, the amount of raw materials an industrialized nation uses to sustain its activities is heightened. [2]

Contents

History

Chincha Islands War

Illustration of the Chincha Islands of Peru, circa 1859 The Chincha Islands, Peru - Illustration for The Illustrated Times, 1859.jpg
Illustration of the Chincha Islands of Peru, circa 1859

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. [3] The guano of these seabirds is incredibly dense in nutrients and became a sought-after resource as a fertilizer. [4] 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. [5]

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. [6] 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. [7] 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. [8] 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. [6]

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. [9]

Environmental security

Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon at an NDP convention in British Columbia, circa 2007 Thomas Homer-Dixon.jpg
Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon at an NDP convention in British Columbia, circa 2007

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. [10] Overpopulation and inequitable resource allocation can make resource scarcity even more pronounced, creating a cyclical instability in the society. [10]

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. [11] This permeates from an overdependence on their resource from an economic standpoint, where authoritarian traits may begin to take effect. [10] 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. [12] This phenomenon is known as the resource curse.

Conflict resources

Conflict resources are natural resources extracted in a conflict zone and sold to perpetuate the fighting. [13] There is both statistical and anecdotal evidence that the presence of precious commodities can prolong conflicts (a "resource curse"). [14] [15] [16] An unfortunate irony is that many countries rich in minerals are impoverished in terms of their capacity for governance. Conflict, corruption and bribery may be seen as the typical costs of doing business. [17] 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. Other commodities are also involved in financing conflict.

History

The concept of "conflict resource", or "conflict commodity" emerged in the late 1990s, initially in relation to the "blood diamonds" that were financing rebellions in Angola and Sierra Leone. [18] Then "conflict timber" financed hostilities in Cambodia and Liberia. [19]

Conventions

The concept was first officially discussed by the UN General Assembly in the context of 'conflict diamonds': [20] The UN Security Council has since referred to conflict resources in several resolutions, particularly resolutions 1533 and I698.97. [21]

Since 1996 the Bonn International Center for Conversion has tracked resource governance and conflict intensity by country. [22] 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).

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 as a way to reduce incentives for armed groups to extract and fight over the minerals.

Supporting external conflicts

In the 2020s, the concept of conflict minerals was extended to those mined to support conflicts in parts of the world other than where the mining takes place. The Wagner Group has been granted mining rights in the Central African Republic in return for securing the continuity of the government. This "blood gold" is then sold to support Russia in the Russo-Ukrainian War. [23] Wagner also has gold-related operations in Mali and Sudan. [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natural resource</span> Resources that exist without actions of humankind.

Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. On Earth, it includes sunlight, atmosphere, water, land, all minerals along with all vegetation, and wildlife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coltan</span> Tantalum-niobium ore

Coltan is a dull black metallic ore from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted. The niobium-dominant mineral in coltan is columbite, and the tantalum-dominant mineral is tantalite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blood diamond</span> Diamonds mined in a war zone and sold to finance conflict

Blood diamonds are diamonds mined in a war zone and sold to finance an insurgency, an invading army's war efforts, terrorism, or a warlord's activity. The term is used to highlight the negative consequences of the diamond trade in certain areas, or to label an individual diamond as having come from such an area. Diamonds mined during the 20th–21st century civil wars in Angola, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau have been given the label. The term conflict resource refers to analogous situations involving other natural resources. Blood diamonds can also be smuggled by organized crime syndicates so that they could be sold on the black market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Africa</span> Southernmost region of the African continent

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and the physical geography definition based on the physical characteristics of the land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exploitation of natural resources</span> Use of natural resources for economic growth

The exploitation of natural resources describes using natural resources, often non-renewable or limited, for economic growth or development. Environmental degradation, human insecurity, and social conflict frequently accompany natural resource exploitation. The impacts of the depletion of natural resources include the decline of economic growth in local areas; however, the abundance of natural resources does not always correlate with a country's material prosperity. Many resource-rich countries, especially in the Global South, face distributional conflicts, where local bureaucracies mismanage or disagree on how resources should be utilized. Foreign industries also contribute to resource exploitation, where raw materials are outsourced from developing countries, with the local communities receiving little profit from the exchange. This is often accompanied by negative effects of economic growth around the affected areas such as inequality and pollution

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Homer-Dixon</span> Canadian political scientist

Thomas Homer-Dixon is a Canadian political scientist and author who researches threats to global security. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia. He is the author of seven books, the most recent being Commanding Hope: The Power We Have to Renew a World in Peril.

The resource curse, also known as the paradox of plenty or the poverty paradox, is the phenomenon of countries with an abundance of natural resources having less economic growth, less democracy, or worse development outcomes than countries with fewer natural resources. There are many theories and much academic debate about the reasons for and exceptions to the adverse outcomes. Most experts believe the resource curse is not universal or inevitable but affects certain types of countries or regions under certain conditions.

Environmental security examines threats posed by environmental events and trends to individuals, communities or nations. It may focus on the impact of human conflict and international relations on the environment, or on how environmental problems cross state borders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global Witness</span> International non-governmental organisation

Global Witness is an international NGO established on November 15 1993 that works to break the links between natural resource exploitation, conflict, poverty, corruption, and human rights abuses worldwide. The organisation has offices in London and Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo</span>

The mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo produces copper, diamonds, tantalum, tin, gold, and more than 70% of global cobalt production. Minerals and petroleum are central to the DRC's economy, making up more than 95% of the value of its exports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conflict minerals law</span>

The eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has a history of conflict, where various armies, rebel groups, and outside actors have profited from mining while contributing to violence and exploitation during wars in the region. The four main end products of mining in the eastern DRC are tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold, which are extracted and passed through a variety of intermediaries before being sold to international markets. These four products, are essential in the manufacture of a variety of devices, including consumer electronics such as smartphones, tablets, and computers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guano</span> Excrement of seabirds or bats

Guano is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a lesser extent, sought for the production of gunpowder and other explosive materials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water scarcity</span> Situation where there is a shortage of water

Water scarcity is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two type of water scarcity. One is physical. The other is economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is where there is not enough water to meet all demands. This includes water needed for ecosystems to function. Regions with a desert climate often face physical water scarcity. Central Asia, West Asia, and North Africa are examples of arid areas. Economic water scarcity results from a lack of investment in infrastructure or technology to draw water from rivers, aquifers, or other water sources. It also results from weak human capacity to meet water demand. Many people in Sub-Saharan Africa are living with economic water scarcity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Peru (1845–1866)</span> Period in the history of Peru, 1845–1866

The Guano era refers to a period of stability and prosperity in Peru during the mid-19th century. It was sustained on the substantial revenues generated by the export of guano and the strong leadership of president Ramón Castilla. The starting date for the guano era is commonly considered to be 1845, the year in which Castilla started his first administration. It ended shortly after the war between Spain and Peru in 1866.

Africa has a large quantity of natural resources, including diamonds, sugar, salt, gold, iron, cobalt, uranium, copper, bauxite, silver, petroleum, natural gas and cocoa beans, but also tropical timber and tropical fruit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boundary Treaty of 1866 between Chile and Bolivia</span> 1866 treaty between Chile and Bolivia

The Boundary Treaty of 1866 between Chile and Bolivia, also called the Mutual Benefits Treaty, was signed in Santiago de Chile on August 10, 1866, by the Chilean Foreign Affairs Minister Alvaro Covarrubias and the Bolivian Plenipotentiary in Santiago Juan R. Muñoz Cabrera. It drew, for the first time, the border between both countries at the 24° South parallel from the Pacific Ocean to the eastern border of Chile and defined a zone of bipartite tax collection, the "Mutual Benefits zone", and tax preferences for articles from Bolivia and Chile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artisanal mining</span> Independent, small-scale, subsistence mining

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is a blanket term for a type of subsistence mining involving a miner who may or may not be officially employed by a mining company but works independently, mining minerals using their own resources, usually by hand.

Peak minerals marks the point in time when the largest production of a mineral will occur in an area, with production declining in subsequent years. While most mineral resources will not be exhausted in the near future, global extraction and production has become more challenging. Miners have found ways over time to extract deeper and lower grade ores with lower production costs. More than anything else, declining average ore grades are indicative of ongoing technological shifts that have enabled inclusion of more 'complex' processing – in social and environmental terms as well as economic – and structural changes in the minerals exploration industry and these have been accompanied by significant increases in identified Mineral Reserves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mining in Sierra Leone</span>

The mining industry of Sierra Leone accounted for 4.5 percent of the country's GDP in 2007 and minerals made up 79 percent of total export revenue with diamonds accounting for 46 percent of export revenue in 2008. The main minerals mined in Sierra Leone are diamonds, rutile, bauxite, gold, iron and limonite.

Since 2011 the European Commission has assessed every 3 years a list of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) for the EU economy within its Raw Materials Initiative. To date, 14 CRMs were identified in 2011, 20 in 2014, 27 in 2017 and 30 in 2020. These materials are mainly used in energy transition and digital technologies. Then in March 2023 Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed the Critical Raw Materials Act, "for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the European Council establishing a framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials". At the time, Europe depended on China for 98% of its rare-earth needs, 97% of its lithium supply and 93% of its magnesium supply.

References

  1. ↑ Acemoglu, D.; Golosov, M.; Tsyvinski, A.; Yared, P. (2012-01-06). "A Dynamic Theory of Resource Wars". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 127 (1): 283–331. doi:10.1093/qje/qjr048. hdl: 1721.1/70960 . ISSN   0033-5533.
  2. ↑ Bakeless, John (1921). The Economic Causes of Modern War: A Study of the Period: 1878-1918. New York: Moffat, Yard, and Company.
  3. ↑ "The Hard Workers of the Peruvian Guano (The Chincha Islands), 2014". Agence VU'. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
  4. ↑ Durfee, Nell (2018-04-27). "Holy Crap! A Trip to the World's Largest Guano-Producing Islands". Audubon. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
  5. ↑ Mancini, Mark (2015-08-12). "How an Old Bird Poop Law Can Help You Claim an Island". Mental Floss. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
  6. 1 2 Brazeau, Mark (2018-04-04). "Remember the Guano Wars". The Breakthrough Institute. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
  7. ↑ Underhill, Kevin (2014-07-08). "The Guano Islands Act". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2022-07-02.
  8. ↑ Cornell Law School. "48 U.S. COde Chapter 8- GUANO ISLANDS". Legal Information Institute.
  9. ↑ Le Billon, Philippe (2007). "Geographies of War: Perspectives on 'Resource Wars'". Geography Compass. 1 (2): 163–182. Bibcode:2007GComp...1..163L. doi:10.1111/j.1749-8198.2007.00010.x – via Wiley.
  10. 1 2 3 Homer-Dixon, Thomas (1994). "Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from Cases". International Security. 19 (1): 5–40. doi:10.2307/2539147. hdl: 10535/2855 . JSTOR   2539147. S2CID   154212598.
  11. ↑ Smith, Benjamin; Waldner, David (2021-04-30). Rethinking the Resource Curse (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108776837. ISBN   978-1-108-77683-7. S2CID   233539488.
  12. ↑ Norman, Catherine S. (2009). "Rule of Law and the Resource Curse: Abundance Versus Intensity". Environmental and Resource Economics. 43 (2): 183–207. Bibcode:2009EnREc..43..183N. doi:10.1007/s10640-008-9231-y. ISSN   0924-6460. S2CID   59417490.
  13. ↑ p.8, Conflict and Development: Peacebuilding and Post-conflict Resolution; Sixth Report of Session 2005–06, Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee, The Stationery Office, 2006
  14. ↑ Philippe Le Billon, "Fuelling War: Natural Resources and Armed Conflicts", Adelphi Paper 373, IISS & Routledge, 2006.
  15. ↑ Michael Ross,"How Do Natural Resources Influence Civil War? Evidence from Thirteen Cases", International Organization, 2004.
  16. ↑ James Fearon and David lotinakin "Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War" American Political Science Review, 2003.
  17. ↑ Agbiboa, Daniel Egiegba (2011-11-03). "Between Corruption and Development: The Political Economy of State Robbery in Nigeria". Journal of Business Ethics. 108 (3): 325–345. doi:10.1007/s10551-011-1093-5. ISSN   0167-4544. S2CID   154968679.
  18. ↑ "'Blood diamonds' crackdown deal". BBC News . 28 June 2000. Retrieved 8 October 2020. Peter Hain : without blood diamonds, the war in Sierra Leone could not be financed... In the face of enormous suffering caused by the diamond-fuelled wars in Sierra Leone, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, we have a duty to ensure that we are doing as much as we can.
  19. ↑ "Liberian 'conflict' timber faces trade ban". Greenpeace UK. 7 May 2003. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  20. ↑ UNGA Resolution 55/56 (2001) Archived 2006-11-08 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ↑ Cassill, Deby L. (2014). "What can ants tell us about corporate social responsibility?". Handbook of Research on Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility: 269–287. doi:10.4337/9781783476091.00023. ISBN   9781783476091.
  22. ↑ Accessible through "the BICC Resource Conflict Monitor". Archived from the original on 2011-01-22. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
  23. ↑ Scott Detrow; Emma Klein; Tinbete Ermyas (December 27, 2023). "How 'blood gold' from Africa is funding Russia's war on Ukraine". NPR.
  24. ↑ "The Blood Gold Report" . Retrieved March 2, 2024.
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