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NS4311 Natural Resources, Politics, and Conflict

Many countries around the world have abundant natural resources, which have deeply affected the development of states, and the nature of politics, economics, and conflict in these countries. Understanding how natural resource abundance affects political and economic development is key to gaining insight into their contemporary political dynamics. In this class, students will learn about the impact of natural resource abundance on state formation, politics, and economics; the relationships between natural resources and conflict; and assess attempts to manage the effects of resources on both politics and conflict in countries with abundant natural resources. This is an advanced topics class and will require deep analysis of the dynamic relationships in these processes. As foreign policy professionals, understanding the challenges faced by countries is as important as thinking about how to respond to them. While there are no technical prerequisites required for the course it will necessitate some familiarity with basic principles of comparative politics, political dynamics in the students’ region of study, and the political economy of development.

Lecture Hours

4

Lab Hours

0

Course Learning Outcomes

As foreign policy professionals who will engage in policy formation and conflict response at combatant commands, embassies or elsewhere, at the end of this course you will be able to:

  • Understand the dynamics of how resources influence politics and state formation.
  • Appreciate how access to natural resources cause and/or affect the course and duration of internal conflict.
  • Analyze the political dynamics influencing the resource curse and understand why some countries escape it, while others do not.
  • Understand the politics behind China’s global resource diplomacy and extraction.
  • Analyze the dynamics behind social protest related to resource extraction in countries with natural resource abundance.
  • Apply this knowledge to new cases and use it to assist in risk management in their future positions.