Natural Resources and Armed Conflicts

Natural Resources and Armed Conflicts

Introduction

Armed conflicts and resources are theorized by Le bellion (2001) as linked by a number of factors linked to “scarcity and abundance” of natural resources. The factors include the “distortionary effects of dependence upon valuable resources on societies,” the “the conflictuality of natural resources political economies” and the “spatial distribution and lootability of natural resources (Le Billon, 2001). These factors are portrayed by Le Bellion as being principal aspects in political ecology of war involving armed conflicts ad resources. The writer offers evidence from observations of armed conflicts around the globe. Support for the theory is given by empirical data obtained from surveillance of war in the context of resources and armed conflicts. This article analysis focuses on the Le Bellion’s theory on “scarcity, abundance and the political ecology of resource-linked armed conflicts”, centering on how this empirical case is introduced and explained through different concepts, and deficiencies existing in the provided empirical observations.

According to Le Billon (2001), armed conflicts result from both the scarcity of natural resources as well as their abundance. Wars between nations, people and communities arise over natural resources in shortage supply, and resources occurring in plenty. This leads to the underlined assertion that political ecology of war has to take into consideration of these two aspects, “natural resources and armed conflicts,” when they occur in the context of any war. The relationship between natural resources and armed conflict is reflected in the connection between “resource dependence and vulnerability to armed conflicts” (Le Billon, 2001). This position is based on the adverse effects of nations or societies being wholly dependent on natural resources, which themselves are subject to a variety of factors of change. Such a situation presents great risks which the nation or society may be unprepared to face. One clear note identified by the writer at this point is the fact that increased value in the natural resource impacts on other sectors of the economy. These impacts eventually have negative effects on the country’s overall economic performance. This is supported by reference to the “Dutch disease”, which denotes a similar sequence of events that happened in the Netherlands, where its manufacturing sector was greatly impaired by discovery of large gas fields (Le Billon, 2001). This empirical information explains the theory relating the nature of economic impact that dependence on a natural resource can have on other non-resource industries.

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