As resource scarcity threatens and the economic gap between affluent and poorer nations continues to widen, conflict over natural resources is assuming critical dimensions. The text analyzes the causes and consequences of present tensions and offers case studies of five recent or ongoing resource conflicts that illustrate major areas of confrontation and identify the range of policy issues we need to confront. The author first describes worldwide scarcity trends and trends in resource conflict and their relation to international conflict as a whole, looking at the dynamics of resource competition, assessing the impact of scarcity, declining economic development, environmental awareness, resource interdependence and other factors. Case studies focus on political coercion in the conflict over food; the scarcity of strategic minerals and competition to control them; and the conflict arising from nuclear pollution in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster. The concluding chapter, dealing with policy implications, explains why prevailing attitudes toward resources are counterproductive and suggests ways of working more effectively to minimize international resource conflict.