UNCOVERING THE MECHANISMS OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONFLICT: AN OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE . (Pages 153-165) by Mr. Aswant Katwal in THE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SPECIALIST / ISSN: 2350-1499 (Online); 2350-0751 (Print)

The efforts to establish a link between natural resources and conflict has gained considerably in the last few decades. The vast array of literature evolving from different disciplines and scholars has provided contradictory and at times ambiguous opinions and theories. The divergence of thoughts on the issue is intrinsically linked to the underlying concepts and theories surrounding conflicts as well as the founding principles of a particular discipline. Notwithstanding, the sheer vastness and complexities involved in categorizing the arguments linking natural resources to conflicts, it is necessary to delineate these theoretical propositions into a simplified and structured format for a constructive and useful analysis. This will not only enable the construction of a systematic evolution of the concept, but will also help in examining their applicability to various forms and nature of conflict. The present paper provides an overview of the major traditions and theories that has been postulated to explain the linkages between natural resources and conflict. Its aim is not only to provide a selected review of literature but also to discuss the lacunae and criticisms inherent in them along with the consensus reached on analysing conflicts over natural resources. Keywords: natural resources and conflicts, systematic evolution, lacunae and criticisms etc.