Resource Wars: Water

[Madpaddy]

Tell you what,

You can take the 90% of our water that we don't need if you promise to take back McDonalds as well.

[Graeme]

Those who control oil and water will control the world

At present, a race for the world's resources is underway that resembles the Great Game that was played in the decades leading up to the First World War. Now, as then, the most coveted prize is oil and the risk is that as the contest heats up it will not always be peaceful. But this is no simple rerun of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, there are powerful new players and it is not only oil that is at stake.

The biggest new player in the game is China and it is there that the emerging pattern is clearest. China's rulers have staked everything on economic growth. Without improving living standards, there would be large-scale unrest, which could pose a threat to their power. Moreover, China is in the middle of the largest and fastest move from the countryside to the city in history, a process that cannot be stopped.

Although oil reserves may not have peaked in any literal sense, the days when conventional oil was cheap have gone forever. Countries are reacting by trying to secure the remaining reserves, not least those that are being opened up by climate change. Canada is building bases to counter Russian claims on the melting Arctic icecap, parts of which are also claimed by Norway, Denmark and the US. Britain is staking out claims on areas around the South Pole.

The scramble for energy is shaping many of the conflicts we can expect in the present century. The danger is not just another oil shock that impacts on industrial production, but a threat of famine. Without a drip feed of petroleum to highly mechanised farms, many of the food shelves in the supermarkets would be empty. Far from the world weaning itself off oil, it is more addicted to the stuff than ever. It is hardly surprising that powerful states are gearing up to seize their share.

While Western power declines, the rising powers are at odds with each other. China and India are rivals for oil and natural gas in central Asia. Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia have clashed over underwater oil reserves in the South China Sea. Saudi Arabia and Iran are rivals in the Gulf, while Iran and Turkey are eyeing Iraq. Greater international co-operation seems the obvious solution, but the reality is that as the resources crunch bites more deeply, the world is becoming steadily more fragmented and divided.

In this round of the Great Game, energy shortage and global warming are reinforcing each another. The result can only be a growing risk of conflict. There were around 1.65 billion people in the world when the last round was played out. At the start of the 21st century, there are four times as many, struggling to secure their future in a world being changed out of recognition by climate change. It would be wise to plan for some more of history's rhymes.

guardian

[funzone36]

Anyone who plays real time strategy games know that controlling the resources means controlling the world.

[Graeme]

The key issue here is international cooperation. That may not be easy but it seems that now more than ever it will be necessary.

[dohboi]

Graeme, man, you are on quite a posting role. I may not always agree with your sunshiny demeanor, but a must tip my hat to your ability to find and post thought-provoking articles. What's your secret?

[dohboi]

On a more content-related note, the article said

"Without improving living standards, there would be large-scale unrest"

Aren't there already tens of thousands of protests every year, and that before the Tibet mess.

I guess they're talking Tien An Men square type action?

[Ludi]

Many (not all) water issues can be solved on a local scale, if people are given support (or left alone) to do so.


http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/

[Graeme]

Graeme, man, you are on quite a posting role. I may not always agree with your sunshiny demeanor, but a must tip my hat to your ability to find and post thought-provoking articles. What's your secret?

Boredom mostly. At work, I have access to the Internet so when I'm not busy, I blog. Also peak oil and climate change are such vital issues of our time, and this is one way (thanks to Aaron) I can express my views even though I feel quite powerless to change anything. But I'm giving it my best shot. Thanks for the compliment.

[oilluber]

so the americans will control the world through the military.....
just like the roman empire did

[Ludi]

so the americans will control the world through the military.....
just like the roman empire did

I think we're coming to the end of the US Empire. A bankrupt nation can't be much of an empire.

[oilluber]

so the americans will control the world through the military.....
just like the roman empire did

I think we're coming to the end of the US Empire. A bankrupt nation can't be much of an empire.

the military can't afford bullets and pants ??

[Chuckmak]

[Ludi]

the military can't afford bullets and pants ??

So the US troops will walk, in their pants, to conquer the "enemy" by throwing bullets at them......

[mos6507]

so the americans will control the world through the military.....
just like the roman empire did

I think we're coming to the end of the US Empire. A bankrupt nation can't be much of an empire.

Some people will still think the US is an "Empire" as long as we still have white people speaking english, a functional McDonalds, and at least one SUV on the road.

[Graeme]

The British Empire Is Up To Its Old Evil Tricks

larouchepub

[cube]

Whoever can control Earth, Wind, Fire, Water--->and also shoot bolts of lightening from their ass will have great power.
///
no hard feelings okay Graeme? I'm just having a little fun here!

[Falconoffury]

Anyone who plays real time strategy games know that controlling the resources means controlling the world.

I find this even more evident in many turn-based strategy games.

[Ferretlover]

Corporations join competition for limited water
California town's struggle with bottler reflects issue across country
By Samantha Young updated April. 11, 2008
McCLOUD, Calif. - The lumber mill closed five years ago, and so many families moved out that the town can no longer even field a high school football team. But McCloud is hoping to turn things around by exploiting the other natural resource in abundance along the icy flanks of Mount Shasta — water.
The town of 1,300 people in far Northern California struck a deal with Nestle in 2003 under which the Swiss company would build the nation's largest water bottling plant to tap three of the many springs on the mountainside and bottle up to 521 million gallons of water a year. ...
Thirsty?

[BigTex]

"He who controls the Spice controls the Universe."

[Atlantean_Relic]

Water Wars

I guess nothing really New to us but eh I don't do alot of these news post things.