CIAO DATE: 02/06

Natural Resources and Contemporary Conflicts

Abstract

Natural resources are frequently associated with violence or at least with tensions: 85% of countries where wars (in most cases, civil wars) were under way in 2003 possessed abundant natural resources. While there are no precise figures on low-intensity conflicts, we do know that many ad hoc armed interventions, popular uprisings and other destabilizing events that have the potential to lead to larger flare-ups are also concentrated in resource-rich countries

Is the juxtaposition of natural resources and conflict coincidental? The general view is that it is not, but the exact nature of the linkage between natural resources and armed conflict is difficult to establish in view of the large number of interacting factors involved. This being said, conflict-wracked countries appear to share, to varying degrees, three characteristics. This observation may increase our understanding of contemporary conflicts, including low-intensity conflicts, and hopefully help prevent them.

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