Resource Wars in Transformation: The Cycle of Climate Change and Its Implications in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

Resource wars is in transformation. Or rather, has transformed. The rising conflicts over resources among competing groups has bedevilled world peace, thus making several interest groups, internationally and locally, to look into causations for resource wars. Resource wars is not new to us, it has a long history, as far back as the wandering band era. Then, people fought over resources to survive, even in the midst of plenteous agricultural forests and endless lakes. Further, the act of fighting over resources was anchored on survival of the fittest and the shift from communal living, and later in nineteenth century Europe, a show of supremacy and imperial power, a period of continental anarchy. However, this has changed dramatically. With the presence of a sophisticated global peacekeeping body, the United Nations, and other networks of similar organizations, resource wars has grown worst. It is in this situation that this study examines resource wars in the international system. It argues climate change and global warming has transformed wars over resources. It concluded that the shape and terrain in which humans relates with the environment and its effects afterwards will determine the core foreign-policy challenge in the coming years in this twenty-first century.