Linking Poverty and Environment as Causes of Conflict: A Case Study of Pakistan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53555/nnssh.v4i8.98Keywords:
Poverty, and, environment, poverty, andconflict, conflict, anddevelopment, conflictand, environmentunequal, developmentAbstract
This paper presents a theoretical analysis of an International conflict, i.e. East Pakistan Crisis, 1971, and reveals that unequal development creates conflict in society. Natural resource scarcity and environmental degradation can also become a source of conflict, so marginalised and excluded people fight for their rights through non-peaceful means. This essay supports the theoretical approaches of poverty, environment, and conflict nexus and reveals that unequal development and resource scarcity deepens the poverty and creates conflicts in the society, causing harm to the environment. The degraded environment increases the poverty as environment and poverty are interlinked, and the poor have limited choices other than to degrade the environment for their survival. This vicious downward spiral link between poverty and degradation of the environment requires working extensively for poverty alleviation to reverse the environmental decline.
References
Broad, R. (1993). Plundering Paradise: The struggle for the environment in the Philippines.
Broad, R. (1994). The poor and the environment: friends or foes? World Development, 22(6), 811-822.
Cleaver, K. M., & Schreiber, G. A. (1994). Reversing the spiral: The population, agriculture, and environment nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa: World Bank Washington, DC.
Collier, P., & Bank, W. (2000). Economic causes of civil conflict and their implications for policy: World Bank Washington, DC.
Collier, P., & Hoeffler, A. (2002). Greed and grievance in civil war. The Centre for the Study of African Economies Working Paper Series, 160.
Deutschman, P. (1971). Pakistan: What Never Gets Said. Nation, 213(15), 457-460.
Dietrich, C. (2000). The commercialisation of military deployment in Africa. African Security Studies, 9(1), 3-17.
Duraiappah, A. K. (1996). Poverty and environmental degradation : a literature review and analysis. London: Environmental Economics Programme, IIED.
Duraiappah, A. K. (1998). Poverty and environmental degradation: A review and analysis of the nexus. World Development, 26(12), 2169-2179.
Faruki, K. A. (1971). India's Role in the East Pakistan Crisis: Legal Aspects. Pakistan Horizon, 24(2), 18-30.
Gurr, T. R. (1993). Why minorities rebel: a global analysis of communal mobilization and conflict since 1945. International Political Science Review, 14(2), 161-201.
Haq, M. (1966). The strategy of economic planning; a case study of Pakistan. Karachi,: Pakistan Branch Oxford University Press.
Hasan, K. S. (1971). Political Background of the East Pakistan Crisis. Pakistan Horizon, 24(2), 3-12.
Hashmi, J. (2005). Haan mein baghi hoon. Lahore, Pakistan: Saghar Publishers.
Holden, A. (2008). Environment and tourism: Taylor & Francis.
Homer-Dixon, T. F. (1994). Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from Cases. International security, 19(1), 5-40.
Homer-Dixon, T. F. (1999). Environment, scarcity, and violence: Princeton Univ Press.
Keen, D. (1998). The economic functions of violence in civil wars (special issue). The Adelphi Papers, 38(320), 1-89.
Khan, M. A. (1983). Generals in Politics: Pakistan 1958-1982. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House.
Le Billon, P. (2001). The political ecology of war: natural resources and armed conflicts. Political Geography, 20(5), 561-584.
Leach, M., & Mearns, R. (1991). Poverty and environment in developing countries: An overview study. Brighton: Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.
Malik, I. H. (2008). The history of Pakistan. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
Marwah, O. (1979). India's Military Intervention in East Pakistan, 1971-1972. Modern Asian Studies, 13(4), 549-580.
Nanda, V. P. (1972). Self-Determination in International Law: The Tragic Tale of Two Cities--Islamabad (West Pakistan) and Dacca (East Pakistan). The American Journal of International Law, 66(2), 321-336.
Niazi, A. A. K. (1998). The betrayal of East Pakistan. Karachi: Oxford University Press.
O'Donnell, C. P. (1984). Bangladesh : biography of a Muslim nation. Boulder, Colo.: Westview.
Ohlsson, L. (2000). Livelihood Conflicts: Linking poverty and environment as causes of conflict: Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
Percival, V., & Homer-Dixon, T. (1998). Environmental scarcity and violent conflict: The case of South Africa. Journal of Peace Research, 35(3), 279-298.
Rahman, M. A. (1970). East Pakistan: The Roots of Estrangement. South Asian Review, 3(S 235).
Rahman, T. (1997). Language and Ethnicity in Pakistan. Asian Survey, 37(9), 833-839.
Rais, R. B. (1985). Elections in Pakistan: Is Democracy Winning? Asian Affairs, 12(3), 43-61.
Schanberg, S. H. (1971). Pakistan Divided. Foreign Affairs, 50(1), 125-135.
Schendel, W. v. (2009). A history of Bangladesh. Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press.
Scherr, S. J. (2000). A downward spiral? Research evidence on the relationship between poverty and natural resource degradation. Food policy, 25(4), 479-498.
Steele, P., Oviedo, G., & McCauley, D. S. (2007). Poverty, health, and ecosystems : experience from Asia. Manila, Philippines: Asian Development Bank.
Warner, G. (2005). Nixon, Kissinger and the breakup of Pakistan, 1971. International Affairs, 81(5), 1097-1118. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2346.2005.00504.x
Westing, A. H. (1986). Global resources and international conflict: environmental factors in strategic policy and action: Oxford University Press.
Wheeler, S. M., & Beatley, T. (2014). Sustainable Urban Development Reader: Routledge.
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
