The NY Times on the role of resources in future conflicts.

Countries thirst for oil, compete for minerals and confront climate change. The American military, with surprising allies, worries that these issues represent a new source of conflict.


The New York Times, in an insightful article, suggests that resources will play an important role in defining conflicts in 2011 and beyond. Specifically the writer suggest the following trends:

1. As rising nations industrialize, they compete for resources, or use resource exports as bargaining chips in disputes; China does both.
2.  Climate change feeds anarchy in poor societies.
3. Pollution and extraction complicate local conflicts in lands rich in minerals and fossil fuels.
4. Conflict over rights to the seabed under the melting Arctic icecap.
5. What one country can do in the interests of all.


I would add to the list the trend of the use of commodities as a currency, if confidence in the US dollar wanes and inflation risks increase.


Source: The New York Times, Why We Might Fight, 2011 Edition, Thom shanker