ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the history of environmental conflict modeling far beyond its analytical origins in the writings of Thomas Malthus. It discusses the military origins of conflict modeling and focuses on modeling the resources that drive military clashes, including weapons and troops. The chapter also explores the role of stakeholder participation in forming models of conflicts as well as start to examine models of conflict resolution, wherein modeling efforts are taken to be an element of larger dispute resolution processes. The application of mathematical modeling in the study of parties involved in competitive, international conflict has a very long history. Historically, some sort of theoretical modeling has always been instrumental for informing policy makers or military commanders about the predicted outcomes of security policies or military actions. The rational actor paradigm suggests that humans are rational decision makers, who take into account all information and make decisions optimally to achieve a specific goal.
