Ecoviolence
Throughout the twentieth century, renewable and non-renewable resources were increasingly exploited, a process with still no end in sight. Thus, as developing nations rush to catch up economically with First World countries, the seeds of environmental conflict are planted on national and regional levels. Both books emphasize the view that Western political officials and military officers need to account for environmental factors before reaching decisions on what role to play in emerging conflicts that have the potential to severely weaken international security.
Of the two books, Ecoviolence has the more useful format concerning the environment as a source of international tension. After an initial chapter on theory, the book then gives an in-depth analysis on five case studies in the succeeding chapters.
Links Among Environment, Population, and Security
Much of the environmental tension comes from the ever growing population pressure, as the world is projected to have 8 billion people by , with 90 percent of this increase coming in developing nations. Of Ecoviolence's five case studies, the best researched is on the Chiapas region of Mexico.
In this chapter, Philip Howard and Thomas Homer-Dixon give a fascinating picture of the Zapatistas' rebellion that exploded on New Year's Day in when the rebels captured several cities, including San Cristobal. Although this particular revolt was crushed, the Zapatistas continue to be a menacing insurgent group that has current Mexican President Vicente Fox proposing negotiations.
Most of the Zapatistas' popular support comes from the Indigenas, native people still speaking Mayan languages. The insurgents are angered over their displacement from fertile agricultural land by wealthy landowners, and are frustrated by their bitter struggle to maintain a subsistence level of existence.
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Although the Mexican government tried to protect the environment in with the creation of the Montes Azules Bioreserve, the policy has mostly failed since peasants have increasingly occupied the area in order to obtain their own personal land. Given the rapid population growth of the rural Chiapan poor, the takeover of 30 percent of Chiapan territory by the cattle industry and the immense size of coffee farms, the environmental pressures will only get worse. For example, soil erosion has been exacerbated by slash-and-burn farming and then by intensive livestock agriculture. Even worse is the destruction of the Lacandon rain forest, two-thirds of which is now destroyed, mostly in the past 25 years.
Because of all these factors, it seems likely that the Zapatistas will remain the most threatening rebel group in North America. Although Israel has ceded partial self-rule to the Palestinian Authority PA , it still maintains ultimate military control. In the Gaza Strip, water has been perhaps the most important issue in the perpetual conflict. While Palestinians lived under substantial water restrictions following the Six-Day War, Israeli settlers did not and in turn consumed times as much water per capita.
Thus, Palestinian resentments in Gaza were caused not only by a great disparity in political power and economic success, but also in access to renewable natural resources.
Comparatively, the Gazan situation is far more desperate than that of the West Bank because Gaza's aquifer is quite shallow, a few feet from the surface, very polluted and heavily depleted. Basically, the Gaza Strip needs an alternate source of water in a contentious and arid region. The lack of decent water has caused a litany of health problems and has crippled the agricultural industry, formerly a Gazan mainstay.
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Even the option of working in Israel is now considerably diminished since the percentage of Gazan workers employed in Israel dropped from a pre-Intifada level of 70 percent before to a mere 11 percent in Unemployment in the Gaza Strip grew to a dangerous 60 percent, an ominous figure given the continual civil war with Israel. All in all, the Gaza Strip could become an unmanageable terrorist threat to Israel since a root cause, water, is becoming a more severe problem every day. As for South Africa, Valerie Percival and Thomas Homer-Dixon offer compelling evidence that ecological factors have contributed to massive outbreaks of violence.
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Specifically, the Kwa Zulu-Natal black homeland has been devastated by a lack of electricity, tremendous soil erosion, significant deforestation and widespread water scarcity. Group loyalties were reinforced by the harsh struggle for survival, and the Natal region was largely abandoned by the ruling National Party in Currently, warlords who specialize in capturing scarce resources rule many informal, poor settlements. It remains an open question whether the current ruling ANC party can develop a more effective ecological policy and decrease the omnipresent violence in former homelands like Natal.
Whereas the case studies on specific regions are tightly focused, Ecoviolence loses some contextual insight in the broadly based chapters on Pakistan and Rwanda.
Detailed contemporary studies of civil violence in Chiapas, Gaza, South Africa, Pakistan, and Rwanda show how environmental scarcity has played a limited to sign Ecoviolence explores links between environmental scarcities of key renewable resources--such as cropland, fresh water, and forests--and violent rebellions, insurgencies, and ethnic clashes in developing countries.
Detailed contemporary studies of civil violence in Chiapas, Gaza, South Africa, Pakistan, and Rwanda show how environmental scarcity has played a limited to significant role in causing social instability in each of these contexts. Drawing upon theory and key findings from the case studies, the authors suggest that environmental scarcity will worsen in many poor countries in coming decades and will become an increasingly important cause of major civil violence.
Hardcover , pages.
Ecoviolence: Links Among Environment, Population, and Security -
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