Are we entering an era of resource wars?
Two news items amplify Daniel McGroarty's piece running on the front page today regarding the potential for heightened resource competition around the world.
The first is Andreas Landwehr's report in the China Post on China's voracious appetite for minerals:
Never before has China invested so many billions of dollars to ensure that the demands of its manufacturers and consumers are met, but in their buying sprees around the world, state-owned Chinese businesses are also meeting with resistance.China already uses twice as much steel as the United States, Europe and Japan combined, and the sheer scale and speed of the country's economic growth will see its demand for resources rise for decades to come.
The other, and perhaps more significant, warning is being raised by the Bundeswehr Transformation Center (a think tank affiliated with the German army) regarding oil shortages. The study, which was leaked to Der Spiegel, paints a fairly stark picture of a future market collapse and the rise of importance of oil exporting countries.
The West needs to return to strong economic growth, but such a rebound would set in train the competition for finite resources sketched above.
(AP Photo)
