An analysis of resource scarcity and the widening economic gap between affluent and poorer nations and the ensuing conflict over natural resources. The author suggests alternative approaches that may help to reduce international conflict.

As resource scarcity threatens and the economic gap between affluent and poorer nations continues to widen, conflict over natural resources is assuming critical dimensions. The text analyzes the causes and consequences of present tensions and offers case studies of five recent or ongoing resource conflicts that illustrate major areas of confrontation and identify the range of policy issues we need to confront. The author first describes worldwide scarcity trends and trends in resource conflict and their relation to international conflict as a whole, looking at the dynamics of resource competition, assessing the impact of scarcity, declining economic development, environmental awareness, resource interdependence and other factors. Case studies focus on political coercion in the conflict over food; the scarcity of strategic minerals and competition to control them; and the conflict arising from nuclear pollution in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster. The concluding chapter, dealing with policy implications, explains why prevailing attitudes toward resources are counterproductive and suggests ways of working more effectively to minimize international resource conflict.

The nature of international resource conflict
theories about causes and consequences of resource conflict
methodology for case study analysis
conflict over endangered species - the whaling confrontation
conflict over fossil fuels - the oil crisis
conflict over food - the grain coercion
conflict over nonfuel minerals - the strategic mineral threat
conflict over pollution - the Chernobyl nuclear disaster
evaluation of case study patterns
policy implications.