Environmental Scarcities and Civil Violence

Abstract

Scarcities of vital environmental resources – especially of cropland, fresh water, and forests – are contributing to significant violence around the world. These environmental scarcities rarely cause wars among countries, but they do generate severe social, economic, and political stresses inside countries. When combined with certain other factors, these stresses, in turn, boost the likelihood of sub-national insurgencies, ethnic clashes, and urban unrest.