Michael Klare on Depleting Natural Resources

As natural resources rapidly deplete globally, only extreme areas in the Arctic, areas of Africa, and the ocean floor remain, in what Michael Klare refers to “the world’s final frontier.” These virtually unexplored areas of the earth are now sought after by the largest, most powerful consumers of natural resources. Tapping into natural resources in these regions present several unique challenges with regards to access to the resources, extraction, political implications, impacts on the indigenous people, and conflict within the region. Throughout the book, Klare discusses several key resource topics and explains how each dynamic is intertwined within the political dynamics of the countries vying for these natural resources.

To set the stage, chapter one explains that the depletion of oil, natural gas, minerals, and farmland has left countries rapidly scrambling in search of previously undiscovered resources. The topic of deep and offshore drilling for oil and gas in chapter two highlights risks associated with extraction and shows how accidents can devastate the environment, such as in the case of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April 2010. Various political implications noted in chapter three have accelerated the race between the United States, Canada, Norway, and Russia, five countries who all seek to lay national claim to undiscovered natural resources in the Arctic. As easy-to-extract oil and natural gas deplete, more complex extraction methods through tar sands, shale gas, and other unconventional hydrocarbons are used alternatively, as explained in chapter four. Furthermore, chapter five highlights the search for additional mining opportunities that present geopolitical and security concerns in countries such as Guinea and Afghanistan.

As chapter six notes, China is the primary producer of rare earth minerals used for multiple applications in technology. This presents concerns for the global economy as China controls the supply with far-reaching economic implications. Chapter seven outlines the ways in which climate change has impacted farmland in many countries who now seek opportunities to produce food sources in other countries through “land grab” deals. Finally, Klare notes that the wealth and power of a nation on the world stage often determines its ability to sustain and obtain natural resources, as a country who is unable maintain or adapt natural resources will likely enter into conflict in an attempt to obtain them.

National Security Linkages to Energy and Environmental Issues

National security is closely linked to both energy and environmental issues, as many nations compete for a finite amount of resources as global demand increases and supply decreases. Klare references the race for these resources as “the world’s final frontier,” and the depletion of the last resource reserves will force the consuming powers into a competitive struggle likely to lead to territorial disputes and conflict. With in-depth examples, the author links national security to environmental issues surrounding the exploration of energy resources. The most compelling case concerns climate change and the melting ice in the Arctic, creating an opening for the exploration of continental shelves to claim the rights of oil and gas. A residual effect is global rising sea levels and the eventual flooding of coastal farm areas, a particular concern in South and Southeast Asia.

Considering an Additional Resource: Freshwater

Missing from the list of natural resources is freshwater; Klare does not directly address freshwater scarcity. Although, he does address “land grabs” as arable land is sought out and purchased or leased for agriculture purposes. Freshwater is often disputed between nations not only for agriculture purposes but for supplying a sufficient freshwater source for a country’s population. A section dedicated to freshwater as a resource would highlight the additional complexities and dynamic relationships caused by the resource.

The Outlook for Depleting Natural Resources

Klare concludes that as the race for resources becomes more complicated, there is an increased risk of environmental disasters during extraction of the natural resource. This is exemplified in the Deepwater Horizon accident in 2010 and the Pennsylvania toxic gas leaks caused by hydraulic fracturing techniques to remove natural gas from the earth. Additionally, geopolitical friction between disputed islands in the East China Sea led to an escalation of force that resulted in China banning the export of rare earth elements, showing the world China had monopolized the extraction of the elements and there was a need to diversify the rare earth mineral markets.

Since the book was published in 2012, the critical issues Klare addressed in each chapter remain significant global energy and geopolitical issues today. The extraction of oil and gas from deep-offshore refineries, especially in the Arctic, is highly contested both by the countries claiming rights and by environmental protection organizations around the world. Refining tar sands, shale gas, and other unconventional hydrocarbons will continue to gain popularity as technology increases the refinement methods and global demand for fossil fuels continues to increase. Opportunities to mine in contested areas, such as Afghanistan, and to develop new supplies of rare earth elements remain a top priority for the Trump Administration. Finally, climate change is impacting the ability to supply food to countries who continue to purchase land to meet agricultural demands.

In the final chapter, Klare last discusses “the race to adapt” where he suggests extracting the remaining resources is the short-sighted, predictable outcome of completely exhausting a particular resource. An alternative approach for governments and the private industry is to implement a “race to adapt” by creating “a contest to become among the first to adopt new materials, methods, and devices that will free the world from its dependence on finite resource supplies” (227). If this is the way forward, Klare could have strengthened his argument throughout the book with specific examples, explanations of policy, and technological advances that could provide evidence to support his theory. There is little discussion surrounding the ways in which private industries or governments are working to address possible solutions through the use of alternatives to fossil fuels and until then acquiring the necessary natural resources will remain the priority.