ABSTRACT
Resource wars – violent conflicts in which the pursuit of natural resources constitutes a major impulse for battle – are almost always associated with some aspect of geography. Because vital and valuable resources – food and water, gold and diamonds, oil and iron ore – are unevenly distributed across the face of the planet, most human societies are regularly confronted with shortages of at least some of them; to overcome these deficiencies, a society can develop substitutes, trade what they have for what they lack, or employ military means to acquire the desired material, thereby igniting armed conflict. In modern times, ensuring access to vital resources has often been designated a matter of “national security,” and no material has been viewed in this way more than oil, considered essential for both industrial and military purposes. Because reserves of oil are so heavily concentrated in the Persian Gulf area, the major Western powers became deeply involved in the political and military affairs of the Persian Gulf states and used military force on occasion to ensure oil’s uninterrupted flow. In the future, oil is likely to lose its dominant role in the global energy mix; at the same time, other resources may acquire the singular importance once held by oil, engendering new systems of intervention and conflict. Whether this proves to be the case will depend on human success in developing alternatives to nonrenewable materials.
