ABSTRACT
As this chapter will demonstrate, warring societies have always attacked the ecosystems, landscapes, and natural resources used to support their opponents. From ancient times, marauding armies destroyed opponents’ irrigation systems, crops, and forests, either intentionally or unintentionally. Modern nation-states have much greater power to marshal resources for war and devastate their enemy’s resource base. Notable examples include the widespread damage of the Western Front during World War I, the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, and the defoliation of forests by Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
