The anatomy of resource wars
- Washington DC: Worldwatch Institute, 2002
- 91p.
- Worldwatch paper 162 .
The presence of abundant natural resources in a number of different countries around the world helps to fuel conflict in several ways. By attracting predatory groups seeking to control them, by financing wars started for other reasons, or because they are exploited by a small elite group while the social and environmental costs are borne by local communities. There are several case studies in this book including timber and gas in Indonesia, and copper in Papua New Guinea.