Resource Scarcity and Environmental Degradation: Analyzing International Conflict and Cooperation

Abstract

The relationship among resource scarcity, degradation, and confl ict has received a great deal of attention in both the international relations and environment and security literature. Both theoretical and empirical works have considered, either directly or indirectly, the environmental and natural resource roots of interstate confl ict (

Northern Warning Lights: Ambiguities of Environmental Security in Finland and Sweden

“…What a majority of the research suggests, however, is that environmental security usually is closely linked to societal and political factors and is virtually impossible to reduce to straightforward causal relations. Conflicts, for instance, do not stem from one environmental cause, but may occur when environmental factors are combined with other ones, such as governance [21,27], population growth [28], health [29], migration [30] or excessive resource extraction [31,32]. Human security, on the other hand, considers environmental threats to be linked to various other factors that increase vulnerability, such as deteriorating health, welfare, livelihoods or equality [3,23,33,34].…”

Transnational research for coastal wetlands conservation in a Cuba–US setting

“…As societies recognize that their futures rely on working together, it is critical that we strengthen transnational efforts to enhance knowledge sharing and collaboration in problem-solving (Dinar, 2011). To that end, we must foster research cooperation mechanisms that are truly inclusive and can overcome the constant reintroduction of an outdated isolationist rhetoric.…”

International political economy and security

“…In sum, the evidence suggests that there is growing potential for outcomes capable of defeating the liberal hope for perpetual capitalist peace. This concern is related to the debate about the limits to growth and potential for resource wars, even though we know that resource scarcity and environmental problems can also induce cooperation among states (Dinar 2011). Various feedback mechanisms further complicate the picture.…”