"Resource Wars"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Michael T. Klare in his book "Resource Wars" states that, although society is often blinded by religious and political propaganda, the ultimate fight is for economic stability. The author points out that, using this argument, many of the United States' recent international policies supposedly aimed at the spreading of freedom can more accurately be seen as the United States acting to tighten its grip upon the world's oil supply. The author of this paper believes that Klare's argument vitally falls short because he contents himself merely to identify the root causes of future conflicts and provides few avenues for the avoidance of bloodshed. The paper aalso discusses whether alternative sources of energy can be utilized and the current supplies of water can be better distributed.

From the Paper:

"The core notion that privatization of the world's water supplies alone can solve the impending water crisis is likely to be false: "Water would be allocated more efficiently and wasted less if its allocation could be based on clear prices established by demand and supply. But the argument is also a bit too simplistic. Water is not a commodity like any other. Rather, it is inherently susceptible to market failure-that is, unfettered markets often will fail to allocate it optimally." Still, the claim that individual governments can remain capable of distributing water efficiently and free of pollutants is likely to be equally fallacious. The moral consequences of pricing water-essentially, placing a monetary value on life-although rather compelling and moving, remain unrealistically placed in a world threatening to reach a population of nine billion by 2050, and concurrently struggling to maintain stable economies and governments."

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• Research Paper # 114111 : "Resource Management in the Aviation Industry"

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