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- Title
From "Resource Wars" to "Resources in Wars".
- Authors
SUSSMAN, DAVID D.
- Abstract
The geopolitical perspective on "resource conflicts" focuses on the way in which key assets, such as oil, serve as a motivation for war when governments struggle over their control. This article argues that this particular approach is often too narrow-minded to accurately explain interstate conflict, since there are usually other key factors associated with war. Instead, it is necessary to shift the focus inward, on where the resources are located, and outward, to the places to which they are connected. In this way, we can consider resource-related interstate conflicts in terms of the resulting supply-chain disruptions that they cause. Using the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine as a case study, this paper concludes that while Russia likely included control over natural resources within a broader rationale for invasion, now a major resource-related concern related is widespread disturbance in global commodities, including food systems. Therefore, what we now see in eastern Europe is not so much about war caused by desire for resources, but rather the effect on access to resources that the war creates. In short, the implication is that the framework of resource conflicts needs to be expanded.
- Subjects
RUSSIA; RUSSIA-Ukraine Conflict, 2014-; RUSSIAN invasion of Ukraine, 2022-; WAR; SUPPLY chain disruptions
- Publication
Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, 2022, Vol 46, Issue 2, p55
- ISSN
1046-1868
- Publication type
Article