Sustainable Development Law & Policy Volume 12 Article 1 Issue 1 Fall 2011: Natural Resource Conflicts Volume 12 Issue 1 Sustainable Development Law & Policy Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/sdlp Part of the Environmental Law Commons Recommended Citation Sustainable Development Law & Policy 12, no. 1 (2011): 1-72. This Entire Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the Washington College of Law Journals & Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sustainable Development Law & Policy by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Volume XII, Issue 1 Fall 2011 SSUSTAIUSTAINABLENABLE DDEVELOEVELOPMENTPMENT LLAWAW && PPOLICYOLICY EXPLORING HOW TODAY’S DEVELOPMENT AFFECTS FUTURE GENERATIONS AROUND THE GLOBE IN THIS ISSUE: NATURAL RESOURCE CONFLICTS 4 | INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS: THE PERVASIVE, PERSISTENT, AND PROFOUND LINKS BETWEEN CONFLICT AND THE ENVIRONMENT by Carroll Muffett and Carl Bruch 7 | NATURAL RESOURCES CONFLICT IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: A QUESTION OF GOVERNANCE? by Clementine Burnley 13 | BANKRUPTING PEACE SPOILERS: WHAT ROLE FOR UN PEACEKEEPERS? by Philippe Le Billon 19 | HIGH-VALUE NATURAL RESOURCES: A BLESSING OR A CURSE FOR PEACE? by Päivi Lujala and Siri Aas Rustad 24 | LIQUID CHALLENGES: CONTESTED WATER IN CENTRAL ASIA by Christine Bichsel 32 | NATURAL RESOURCE “CONFLICTS” IN THE U.S. SOUTHWEST: A STORY OF HYPE OVER SUBSTANCE by Laura Peterson, Jay C. Lininger, Marty Bergoffen, Bill Snape, and Curt Bradley 37 | CUBAN OFFSHORE DRILLING: PREPARATION AND PREVENTION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE UNITED STATES’ EMBARGO by Richard Sadowski 41 | THREATS TO A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: WATER ACCUMULATION AND CONFLICT IN LATIN AMERICA by Rutgerd Boelens, Mourik Bueno de Mesquita, Antonio Gaybor and Francisco Peña 46 | COLLABORATION AND THE ECOLOGY OF DEMOCRACY by Daniel Kemmis and Matthew McKinney http://www.wcl.american.edu/org/sustainabledevelopment EDITORS’ NOTE n October 2011 the human population of our planet officially reached the high-water mark of seven billion.1 According to Ithe World Wildlife Fund’s Living Planet Index, the current FEATURES: rate of consumption will see demand for two planets’ worth of natural resources by 2030.2 With this increasing demand and the 12 | WATER CRISIS IN THE MURRAY-DARLING BASIN: continued development of virtually every corner of the globe, AUSTRALIA ATTEMPTS TO BALANCE AGRICULTURAL NEED WITH ENVIRONMENTAL REALITY the finite nature of the Earth’s resources presents a sobering real- by Joshua Axelrod ity. Through human ingenuity, industry now attempts to supple- ment scarce resources through research and development of 18 | THE REAL COST OF CHINA’S RARE EARTH EXPORT synthetic and other alternatives. However, a simple, stark fact QUOTAS ON AMERICAN JOB SECURITY remains: certain resources such as water, timber, and land are by Katherine Weatherford fundamental and aboriginal as the basic elements for human survival. As the demand for natural resources rises in a finite 23 | WEAK PLANNING PROCESS FRUSTRATES PROTECTION sphere, allocation, distribution, management, and governance of OF PUERTO RICO’S THREATENED COASTLINE these natural resources must be scrutinized. And at the core of by Mark Borak any such critique must be the availability of the natural resources 31 | A CASE FOR THE UNITED STATES’ OPPOSITION OF themselves. INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC COAL SUBSIDIES This issue on Natural Resource Conflicts examines current by Josh Fieldstone contestations arising out of the use, distribution, and governance of these finite resources. We survey the globe, exploring the 40 | THE ARCTIC COUNCIL: GATEKEEPER OR DOORMAT causes and implications of individual and localized conflicts with TO THE WORLD’S NEXT MAJOR RESOURCE BATTLE? the ultimate goal of providing viable and successful resolutions. by Oded Cedar Through the analysis of land-based conflicts centered upon the public lands of the American West, participatory and collabora- high-value resources such as oil and diamonds. Instead, scholars tive management is heralded as one potentially effective method are now turning their attention to conflicts emerging from water of resolving these disputes. Left unresolved, disputes over natu- disputes. For example, conflicts have arisen over water use in ral resources can escalate into public demonstrations and even Central Asia, stemming from long-term overexploitation and armed conflicts. For example, where the imbalance of water mismanagement. As fresh water resources increase in scarcity, rights distribution in Latin America favors elites and private this new “liquid gold” only amplifies the potential for conflict.4 corporations, neglected rural and indigenous communities have This issue of Sustainable Development Law & Policy seeks taken to mass protests. In the resource-rich African continent, to facilitate the discussion and understanding of important natural resources, including petroleum and rare earth minerals, developments surrounding natural resources and their relation- have both catalyzed and fueled violent armed conflicts.3 Only by ship to various types of conflicts. Our aim is to encourage further carefully probing and dissecting these conflicts can we hope to integration of sustainable development principles within existing curb such ghastly consequences. and emerging legal and policy frameworks. The management Here at home, highly contested domestic policy debates and governance of natural resources exert a significant influence center around petroleum extraction, especially in the American upon the fundamental survival and security of multiple stake- Southwest. However, the conversation is not limited to traditional holders who live near, rely on, or benefit from those resources. Resource development decision-making must take into account 1 Haya El Nasser, World Population Hits 7 Billion, (Oct. relevant environmental, social, and political factors if the inter- 30, 2011), http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2011-10-30/world- national environmental and legal communities are to minimize population-hits-seven-billion/51007670/1. USATODAY.com 2 WORLD WILDLIFE FUND, LIVING PLANET REPORT 2010 (2010), http://www. and ultimately thwart natural resource conflicts. footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/living_planet_report_20101. 3 Rising Energy Use: Overview, , http://www. wri.org/publication/content/8332 (last visited Dec. 20, 2011). 4 See generally Alexander CariusWorld et al., Water,Resources Conflict, Institute and Cooperation, in 10 2004), http:// www.unep.org/dnc/Portals/155/dnc/docs/ecp/ecspr10_unf-caribelko.pdf. Environmental Change and Security Project Report ( SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT LAW & POLICY 2 ABOUT SDLP Sustainable Development Law & Policy (ISSN 1552-3721) Editors-in-Chief is a student-run initiative at American University Washington Chelsea Tu College of Law published three times each academic year, Braunson Virjee with occasional special editions and two annual foreign language translations. The journal publishes articles and Senior Editorial Board essays that focus on reconciling the tensions between envi- Managing Editor Cynthia Wildfire ronmental sustainability, economic development, and human Marketing Editor Ryan Haddad welfare. It embraces an interdisciplinary focus to provide Symposium Editors Lauren Trevisan, Jessica Goldstein a broad view of current legal, political, and social develop- International Editor Veronica Gonzalez ments. Our mission is to serve as a valuable resource for Senior Editors practitioners, policy makers, and concerned citizens promot- Freddy Cuellar, Josh Fieldstone, ing sustainable development throughout the world. 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