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Natural Resources: Curse or Blessing?. Dr. Filiz Otucu and Dr. Whitney Howarth Dept. of Social Sciences Plymouth State University. Why have resources become so important ? . Escalating worldwide demand . population growth Industrialization/economic growth - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Natural Resources: Curse or Blessing?
Dr. Filiz Otucu and Dr. Whitney Howarth Dept. of Social Sciences
Plymouth State University
Why have resources become so important?
Escalating worldwide demand population growthIndustrialization/economic growthIncreasing appetite for materials Rising demand around the world
Risk of shortagesEarth lost nearly one-third of its available
natural wealth between 1970 and 1995 as a result of human activity.
Oil and water are likely to be in insufficient supply to meet global requirements by the middle of the 21st C.
Disputes over ownership Many key sources of natural resources are
shared by two or more nations, lie in contested border areas.
mixed with ethnic/religious conflicts
Case Studies
Water: Jordan River Basin, Middle East
Oil: Darfur, Sudan
Diamonds: Sierra Leone
WATER CONFLICT Supply is inadequate
Rapid urbanization
Global climate change
water: matter of national survival
“water is life itself”
Yitzhak Rabin: “if we solve every other problem in the Middle East, but do not satisfactorily resolve the water problem, our region will explode”
According to World Bank: minimum human water requirement of 1,000 cubic meters per person a year
Actual available fresh water: 12,500 cubic km per year
JORDAN RIVER BASINLebanon: Hasbani
tributesDan river: northern
corner of IsraelSyria: BaniyasLake TiberiasIsrael: 6.7/10.9m Jordan: 3,696,000/
6.5mIsrael: 467/310Jordan: 224/80
Israel: National Water Carrier(NWC)
Jordan: East Ghor Canal75% Jordanian water
needs 1967: 6 Day WarGolan Height of Syria
(Baniyas) West Bank
“This is a resource war, fought by surrogates, involving great powers whose economies are predicated on growth, contending for a finite pool of resources.” – David Morse, War of the Future:
Oil Drives the Genocide in Darfur
Sudan: Starving for Oil
Genocide in Darfur
SUDAN:
DARFUR: Starving for Oil in a Resource War Zone.
Historic BackgroundChevron finds oil in Sudan 1978
Sudanese Civil War – 22 years Arab nomadic herding clans in north black African farmers in the south
US Sanctions since 1997
Racial Tensions, Ethnic Rivalries, and Religious disputes. Water wars.
“The Dafur Conflict” -- began in 2003 and continues today--450,000 dead (violence and disease) and --2.5 million displaced
The Janjaweed militias - Genocide??
Khartoum
Who “owns” Darfur?
Other Oil Companies/Countries in Sudan:Talisman (Canada)Petronas (Malaysia)Lundin Oil (Sweden)National Iranian Gas CompanyAqip (Italian)TotalFina (France)OMV (Austrian) & many more…
Multi-nationals competing for oil concessions…http://youtube.com/watch?v=hI5j43YffFs (2:43)
ConcessionsState-owned Chinese oil company,
CNPC, controls 60-70% of all Sudan oil production
China’s CNPC is the operator of Sudan's huge Block 6…
Recent production increase in the Block 6 from 10,000 to 40,000 barrels of oil a day.
oil revenues are used to finance the Sudanese government's war against Darfuri people.
China is the world’s fastest growing oil importing nation – uses its position on the UN Security Council to block sanctions against Sudan.
Diamondsruthless factions are provoking civil warMajor resource conglomerates are
contributing no established local institutions. demand is growingPrivate military companies involved
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
“Conflict Diamonds” originate from areas controlled by forces opposed to internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments.
Fueling War 1991: Civil WarCharles Taylor of LiberiaRUF: Revolutionary United Front1999: ceasefire
2001 U.N. sanctions :“a ban on Liberian diamond sales, and a ban on travel by Liberian officials, including its president, and tougher weapons sanctions.”
2002 United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL)
•1996 elections: To intimidate potential voters and to maintain control of the diamond mines, the rebels chopped off the hands and feet of adults, teens, children and even infants
•2003: the U.N. Special Court in Sierra Leone “indicted several of those involved in the civil war in Sierra Leone for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of international humanitarian law.”
Over 50,000 people have been killed
Over one million people have been displaced
Thousands, especially children, have been maimed and mutilated
Sierra Leone
Who needs to take action?•Governments•IGOs and Non-Government Organizations (NGOS)•diamond traders & multi-national co.’s•financial institutions•arms manufacturers/traders•social and educational institutions•Citizens & human rights groups•YOU and your Students!
Curriculum Ideas for teachersWater Lessons: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/04/g912/newswater.html http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/10/flwrc11.html?&c=3wm (video clip) http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/educators/enrichment/africa/lessons/byarea.html
Oil Lessons: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/01/g68/iraqoil.html http://www.pbs.org/wnet/extremeoil/teachers/lp1.html http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/educators/geography_colombia.html
Blood Diamond Lessons: http://www.amnestyusa.org/education/pdf/bd_curriculumguide.pdf http://
www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/lessonplans/world/conflict_diamonds_12-06.html
http://www.blooddiamondaction.org/ and http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/blooddiamond/shineonem.htm
“Shine On ‘Em” Lyrics by rapper Nas
They dug me out the soil in the Mines of the MotherlandNow I'm misplaced, one hand to another handIllegal smugglin', people strugglin'Wish they could just throw me back in the mud againYeah, guess that's how we got hereSlave Trade then the Diamond TradeEvery child's afraidWhen his Mother and Father get sprayedForced in the Army, young killer BrigadeGets a new name and then he give his nose glueTil' his mind can't take what he's gon' throughLookin' in that dirt for that ice so blueThen The Royal Family, the ice goes toAnd this thing has to change, feelin' half-ashamedAs I rap with my Platinum chainWhen you shop for a gift for meYou think about the misery?The same way we made Apartheid HistoryWe can do the same thing to the conflict iceBut everybody wanna shine, right?