SS Notes 1: Reasons for conflict between countries.

Factors: Conflict over territory, conflict over scarce resources and conflict over ideological differences.

Conflict over territory: Conflict over territory is an important cause of conflict between countries. When two or more countries stake claim over a tract of land, it causes conflict between these nations particularly if the land means a lot to the countries. An example of this is the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Both China and India were locked in a border dispute following India’s independence. China had built a road in Aksai Chin plateau, one of the contested tracts of land which led to rising tensions between China and India which finally culminated in a brief war. Thus, conflict between countries can arise due to conflict over territory.

Conflict over scarce resources: Conflict over scarce resources is an important cause of conflict between countries. When countries have scarce resources they might use force to gain more. This causes conflict. An example of this is the Iceland Cod Wars. Iceland increased its fishing zone from 50 to 200 nautical miles from shore in 1975 in response to overfishing in the area by British trawlers. However, Britain refused to recognize the new boundary and cut ties with Iceland in February 1976. The two countries eventually reached an agreement on June 1976 but there were many clashes between the Icelandic Coast Guard and the British Royal Navy during that period. Thus conflict between countries can arise due to conflict over scarce resources.

Conflict over ideological differences: Conflict over ideological differences is an important cause of conflict between countries. Differing values and beliefs among countries can cause conflicts. Countries can come into conflict if they think their ideological beliefs are being threatened. An example of this is the Korean War fought between the communist North Korea and the democratic South Korea and their respective allies. The fighting brought destruction to many people in Korea. In August 1953, a ceasefire was negotiated by the two parties and a demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea was created. Thus conflict between countries can arise due to conflict over ideological differences.

BOC:

Conflict over ideological differences > Conflict over territory + Conflict over scarce resources: Conflict over ideological differences is more important than conflict over territory and conflict over scarce resources as conflict over ideological differences is the root cause of conflict. Countries with differing ideological beliefs are often unwilling to negotiate with each other whereas countries sharing similar ideology can negotiate peacefully to solve conflicts over territory and scarce resources. As this lack of diplomacy is the underlying cause of conflict, conflict over ideological differences is thus the most important cause of conflict.

Conflict over scarce resources>Conflict over territory + Conflict over ideological differences:

Conflict over scarce resources is more important than conflict over territory as it is the root cause of the conflict. Countries seek to gain territory mostly due to the resources that the territory will provide. If it were not for this motivation of seeking more resources, most of the conflicts over territories would not arise. Thus, conflict over scarce resources is more important than conflict over territory. Conflict over scarce resources is also more important than conflict over ideological differences based on short term impact. Although different countries may have ideological differences, all countries have a common need for resources in order to expand and prosper. Thus, the need to procure more resources is more pressing in the short-term than quibbling over ideology and countries will therefore enter into conflicts for scarce resources more readily than conflicts over ideological differences. Thus, scarce resources are the most important reason for conflicts between countries.