Course info

EnvStud 742 – Conflict over Natural Resources in South-East Asia and the Pacific

Content:

Peace is elusive and cannot be imposed or guaranteed militarily. The complexity of the subject of peace implies that fresh concepts and innovative methods are necessary to supplement the knowledge and insights provided by conventional researeh into conflict, i.e. through disarmament and military studies and international relations. This analysis of conflict through a focus on natural resources uncovers the linkages between resources and the role of the state in facilitating or preventing access to them, and the implications that the conflict over resources holds for human rights and cultural survival in the two regions. At the same time, the exploration of these and other more general linkages, such as the role of science and technology in the organization of resource extraction, distribution and utilization, and the impact of the world economic crisis on resource use, is a step towards a more holistic and integrated analysis of the root causes of conflict.

There are several reasons why this topic is timely and important. First, while disputes over the control and use of natural resources have been linked to tension and violence in all parts of the world, the South-East Asian and Pacific regions are richly endowed with natural resources that are in demand in international trade and that have been the cause of many different types of conflict. Industrialized societies emphasized material needs, the maximization of production limited only by the ingenuity of science and technology, and the acquisition of material wealth for its own sake. They drew their social stratification from the unequal acquisition of material wealth. The transformation of natural resources into commodities for generating profits, and hence the control of access to natural resources, became a cornerstone of the capitalist economies that emerged in Europe. This system was transferred to states in Asia, the Pacific, and other parts of the world penetrated by colonialism. The result was a new round of conflict over the control and use of natural resources, quite different in scope and intensity from that which had existed prior to colonialism. The attainment of independence by countries in South - East Asia and the Pacific did not diminish in any substantial way the national and international conflict over natural resources. In the foreseeable future, the trend in South-East Asia and the Pacific is towards increased conflict over natural resources, especially those that are becoming searee. Resources engendering conflict at the international level include extractive resources that have strategic or military value, such as metals, minerals, and fuels. At the local level, conflict over natural resources among competing groups of users, including tribal communities, peasants, fishermen, miners, loggers, and corporations, has not only continued unabated but threatens to worsen in the coming years. This conflict is an immediate result of the dramatic increase in population and the corresponding increase in use of natural resources, the polarization of rival claimants, and the failure of many governments and authorities in the region to mediate effectively. Another reason for focusing on the subject of conflict over natural resources is that, in many countries in the two regions, there is a growing sense of resource nationalism and concern for the terms of resource development negotiated between states.

Course Lecturer: Gerhard Berchtold, PhD

ECTS credits: 6

Coursebook:

Conflict over Natural Resources in South-East Asia and the Pacific

Edited by Lim Teck Gheend Mark J. Valencia

Natural Resources of South-East Asia
General Editor: OOI JIN BEE

UNITED NATIONSUNIVERSITY PRESS 1990 Singapore
OXFORDUNIVERSITY PRESSOxfordNew York 1990

Oxford is a trade mark of Oxford University Press

© The United NationsUniversity 1990
Published in the United States by
Oxford University Press, Inc., New York

All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press

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Published by United Nations University Press, The United Nations University,
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and Oxford University Press Pte. Ltd.,
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United Nations University Press
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Tokyo 150, Japan

The papers presented in this volume form part of the output of a larger programme of the UnitedNationsUniversity on 'Peace and Global Transformation'. That programme seeks to understand in a comprehensive way the underlying causes of conflict and tension as well as the diverse forms of struggle for peace. The researchers engaged in the programme are trying to relate the issue of peace to the wide range of conflicts and various manifestations of violence at a number of different levels-local, national, and international. Thus conflict over natural resources has been selected as the focus of the South-East Asian and Pacific component of the 'Peace and Global Trans-formation' programme. The studies contained in the volume are the results of research carried out at three different levels-regional, national, and local. A major assumption is that the conflicts are not accidents brought about by simple greed or survival instincts, but rather are the logical conclusions of historical and economic developments set into motion by social forces. Among these forces are multinational corporations and state or bureaucratic corporations on the one side, and the victims of resource exploitation-tribal communities, peasants, and workerson the other.

There exists considerable documentation of the ways in which policy-makers in Asia and the Pacific are facing up to the politically sensitive and complex issues emanating from foreign exploitation of national natural resources, especially regarding the increasing sophistication of developing countries in negotiating the terms and conditions of oil and gas resource development. This, however, is often due not to any liberal government attitude or policy towards the release of information on national issues of importance but to a desire to mobilize local public opinion against foreign interests so as to enhance the local support base of ruling elites. A study on the Pacific returns the reader to consideration of the involvement of outside powers in the present and future exploitation of Pacific marine resources, and assesses separately the consequences and ensuing dilemmas for small island states that do not have the strength-military, political, economic, or scientific-to contend with the outsiders, especially by themselvesAas the study points out, there is much actual and potential conflict within and between island states over questions such as disputed ocean boundaries, rates and terms of resource exploitation, and the allocation of responsibility for the protection of the environment.