Special Report: Climate Change and the Race for Resources

Special Report: Climate Change and the Race for Resources

2010 began with disappointment over the Copenhagen climate change summit, only to end on a note of guarded optimism over the success — or lack of failure — in Cancun. Meanwhile, changing climate patterns have opened up new areas to mineral extraction, while exacerbating existing tensions over water. All of these developments take place against the backdrop of increasing global competition for mineral resources and rare earth elements. In this special report, World Politics Review considers climate change and resource competition through articles published in 2010.

Below are links to each article in this special report, which subscribers can read in full. Subscribers can also download a .pdf version of this report from our document center. Not a subscriber? Subscribe now, or try our subscription service for free.

Climate Change

Work Remains After Cancún Conference’s Modest Success
By Myles Estey
Dec. 13, 2010

Testing the Prospects for a Climate Agreement in Cancun
By Christine Parthemore and Will Rogers
Nov. 4, 2010

Calculating the Odds on Climate Change
By Alex Evans and David Steven
Jan. 11, 2010

India’s Shifting Approach on Climate Change
By Priyanka Bhardwaj
April 16, 2010

Global Warming Shifts Focus to the Friendly North
By Thomas P.M. Barnett
Sept. 27, 2010

Sacrificing the Environment for Food Security
By Michael Kugelman and Susan L. Levenstein
Jan. 20, 2010

The Browning of Biofuels: The Political Economy of Policy Failure
By C. Ford Runge
Feb. 16, 2010

Resources

In Latin America, Informal Mining’s Other Dangers
By Eliot Brockner
February 16, 2010

Argentina, Bolivia and Chile: The ABCs of Lithium
By Sean Goforth
April 1, 2010

Mongolia: The Promise of ‘Minegolia’
By Prashanth Parameswaran
Oct. 21, 2010

The Search for Rare Earths
By Prashanth Parameswaran
Oct. 5, 2010

Polar Regions

The Arctic: China Opens a New Strategic Front
By Paul McLeary
April 19, 2010

Global Insider: The Politics of the Antarctic
Interview with Danila Bochkarev
May 13, 2010

India, China Turn Sights on Antarctica
By Klaus Dodds
Dec. 6, 2010

Water

Possible Futures for Transboundary Water Resources
By Aaron Wolf
Jan. 20, 2010

Clear Gold: Water and Conflict in the Middle East
By Jon B. Alterman
April 19, 2010

Avoiding Crisis in the Mekong River Basin
By Prashanth Parameswaran
April 30, 2010

Global Insider: The India-Pakistan Water Dispute
Interview with John Briscoe
June 6, 2010

Global Insider: The Nile River Basin
Interview with Aaron Wolf
May 17, 2010