And he describes the kinds of violence that can result from these social effects, arguing that conflicts in chiapas, mexico and ongoing turmoil in many african and asian countries, for instance, are already partly a consequence of scarcity. Environmental scarcity and the outbreak of conflict. Violence rose to horrifyingly high levels, and remain so even in postapartheid south africa. The author uses social science research methodology to isolate the independent variable of environmental scarcity in.
It argues that scarcity is never the sole cause of pakistans social conflict. Climate as a risk factor for armed conflict nature. The world will consequently face growing scarcities of such vital renewable resources as cropland, fresh water, and forests. Resource scarcity and conflict in developing countries. Homerdixon is careful to point out that the effects of environmental scarcity are indirect and act in combination with other social, political, and economic stresses.
The national referent dominates discussions of security, large scale violent conflict is the concern that receives the most attention from policymakers, and developing military capability to respond to possible violent conflicts consumes large amounts of public resources. Climate has affected organized armed conflict within countries, and intensifying climate change is estimated to increase future risks of conflict, although other drivers are substantially more. Climate change, human security and violent conflict. The project analysed the causal link between renewable resource scarcities and violent conflict. Searching for climateconflict links nature climate change. Resource scarcity, climate change and the risk of violent. Briefing book, the project on environment, population and security, aaas and university of toronto, 1996. Transboundary resource disputes and the case of west bank water, international security, vol. These conflicts are probably the early signs of an upsurge of violence in the coming decades that will be induced or aggravated by scarcity. Thomas homerdixon and valerie percival, environmental scarcity and violent conflict. The earths human population is expected to pass eight billion by the year 2025, while rapid growth in the global economy will spur ever increasing demands for natural resources. University of toronto project of environment, population and security, toronto, on.
Responding to the security challenge peacekeeping and peacebuilding. Environmental conflict can be broadly understood as a social conflict relating to the environment. Resource scarcity and conflict in developing countries john w. Inventory of environment and security policies and practices ic 3 consequence that certain types of armed violence fail to be captured in data sets. The case of chiapas, mexico part 1 philip howard thomas homerdixon occasional paper project on environment, population and security washington, d. Some two dozen countries are already classified as waterscarce, and thisas areas as diverse as israel, southern california and even the netherlands know is. This book examines how the environmental degradation of renewable resources such as fresh water, productive soils, forests, and fisheries influences relations between and within poor societies. They do not necessarily represent the views of the world development report. John stackhouse globe and mail clearly written and forcefully argued, environment, scarcity, and violence is an excellent work. Homerdixon and percival convincingly argue that this violence can not be addressed without also examining underlying environmental problems. C american association for the advancement of science and the university of. Thomas homerdixons book environment, scarcity, and violence describes the relationship between climate and conflict. Homerdixon is careful to point out that the effects of environmental. Conflict due to renewable resource scarcity could be cyclical, implying recurring phases of conflict.
We use the model to examine various policy scenarios concerning population control and technical innovations in. The other case studies in the briefing book also demonstrate links between environmental scarcity and conflict. A mesopotamian city state, lagash, diverted water from its neighbor, umma. Environment, scarcity and violence thomas homerdixon.
Resource scarcity, climate change and the risk of violent conflict. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Nevertheless, evidence indicates that the countrys varied and worsening environmental scarcities interact with the structure and operation of the pakistani state to. Could global warming trigger a sequence of events leading to economic decline, social unrest and political instability. Conflict usually occurs primarily as a result of a clash of interests in the relationship between parties, groups or states, either because they pursuing opposing or incompatible goals. Article for world dialogue institute for environmental. Introduction this casestudy on south africa was pro duced for the project on environment, population, and security at the university of toronto.
Armed conflict and the environment, journal of peace research, 35 1998, pp. This paper examines the contribution of environmental scarcity to violent conflict in pakistan. Percival, environmental scarcity and violent conflict. Environmental scarcity caused by climate change has been implicated as a driver of violent conflict. Environment, scarcity, and violence princeton university. Homerdixon is careful to point out that the effects of environmental scarcity are indirect and act in. However, this environmental security polemic is still trying to deliver a welldefined approach to achieving peace. Received 8 july 2009 received in revised form 18 august 2009 accepted 1 september 2009.
This book brings together international experts to explore these questions using indepth case studies from around the world. George rathjens, environmental scarcity and violent conflict, scientific american, february. Why do conflicts over scarce renewable resources turn. Briefing book, washington, dc, american association for the advancement of science, 1996. Now, research shows significant bias in the regions analysed for climate conflict links. Destabilizing the environmentconflict thesis jstor. Environmental scarcity, mass violence, and the limits to ingenuity. Clearly written and forcefully argued, this book will become the standard work on the complex relationship between environmental scarcities and human violence. The first humanonhuman conflict over water occurred around 2500 bc in mesopotamia, according to the list. In south africa, the system of apartheid provided whites with 87 percent of the land, while blacks almost 75 percent of the countrys population. Unequal access to natural resources in a given society makes them scarce for large segments of the population. The past two decades have witnessed the emergence of a large body of research examining the linkage between environmental scarcity, violent conflict, and cooperation. Although many wars have been fought over natural resources, the author resists the simple notion that environmental pressures inexorably lead to violent conflict.
By carefully tracing the causal processes in each case, we also sought to identify how environmental scarcity operates, if and when it is a cause of conflict. The challenge of rising land and water scarcity in rwanda 32. Environment, scarcity, and violence princeton university press. Thomas homerdixons environment, scarcity and violence offers a scholarly analysis of the role environmental scarcity plays in spawning violent human conflicts. Thomas f homerdixon from the john holmes library collection. In recent years, this research has been related to and picked up by a growing literature on climate change and. Environment, scarcity, and violence homerdixon, thomas. Environmentally induced displacement and the 1951 refugee.
Environmental scarcity and conflict executive summary natural resources and con. This relation can take several forms and directions. He also acknowledges that human ingenuity can reduce the likelihood of conflict, particularly in countries with efficient markets, capable states, and an educated populace. New issues will arise during conflict which perpetuate the conflict. The uninterrupted supply of resources such as oil and certain strategic minerals has been traditionally identifiedas a national security. Resource scarcity, climate change and the risk of violent conflict alex evans1 center on international cooperation new york university september 9, 2010 the findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors.
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