Sustainable Development and Human Security: Can We Learn from Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, and Haiti?

Abstract

It is contended that resource scarcity created by globalization's unsustainable approach to development has actually intensified the extent of inter- & intrastate conflict in developing nations. Several theories of the causes of intra-state violence are reviewed to illustrate how economic scarcity reduces cooperation between certain communities. The need to challenge the Western perception of economic growth as unlimited in potential is stressed. Analyses of interstate conflict in Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, & Haiti are performed to demonstrate that competition of scarce resources does indeed cause social fragmentation & interstate violence. It is claimed that humanizing current definitions of state & national security may prevent future international conflict & that collective interests must replace state interests. J. W. Parker