Environment and Conflict INR456 Political Geography

Change in the perceptions of security How perceptions/understanding of security has changed since the end of the Cold War? – Widening: The range of potential actors of conflict has expanded significantly to include a number of non-state entities. – Deepening: The potential causes of insecurity have also increased and diversified considerably. 2

The role of natural resources in conflict 3 Source: UNEP, “From Conflict to Peacebuilding: The Role of Natural Resources and the Environment”, 2009, p.11.

The relationship between the environment and the conflict 1) Natural resources can contribute to the outbreak of conflict 2) Natural resources can finance and sustain conflict 3) Natural resources can undermine peacemaking 4

Natural Resources: Curse or Blessing? Resource Curse: Countries whose economies are dependent on the export of a high-value natural resources face with problems of revenue management, corruption, unemployment and conflict over the distribution of wealth acquired from natural resources. – Resource rich countries Either lack capacity for good governance which creates weak states or they turn into dictatorships 5

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Impacts of conflict on natural resources Direct impacts: Indirect impacts Institutional impacts: 7

Natural Resources and Peacebuilding How do natural resources contribute to peacebuilding? – 1) Supporting economic recovery – 2) Developing sustainable livelihoods – 3) Contributing to dialogue and cooperation 8

Neoliberal Geopolitics A certain globalist and economistic view of the world, one associated with neoliberalism, does service in legitimating the war. Traditional geopolitics suggests the control and protection of natural resources (oil reserves) through military operations. Neoliberal geopolitics suggests the development of an open and interdependent resource markets which can be penetrated by multinational companies. (Forced openness of national economy and integration to global system) According to neoliberal geopolitics, disconnection and closed markets generate states that are authoritarian, militaristic, undemocratic and rogue or weak states. 9

“the military and financial markets are in the same business: the effective processing of risk. As such, it is essential that these two worlds— military and financial—come to better understand their interrelationships across the global economy” (Barnett quoted in Holzer 2000). 10

Map of Non-Integrated Zones in the World 11

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