Resource war

A resource war is an armed conflict driven in significant part by competition for control of natural resources, including oil, minerals, water, or fertile land.

Resource curse: The pattern in which resource wealth is associated with weaker institutions, economic volatility, or conflict. Resource revenues can fund armed groups and intensify struggles over state control.
Second Congo War: A 1998–2003 war involving the Democratic Republic of the Congo and several neighboring states. Control and exploitation of minerals and other resources became entwined with the conflict.
War of aggression: A war initiated by a state’s use of armed force against another state's sovereignty or territorial integrity. A resource motive may accompany aggression, but aggression describes the act rather than its economic driver.
Conflict minerals: Minerals whose extraction or trade is linked to financing armed groups or serious abuses. Their supply chains can transmit the costs of resource warfare into global markets.
Greed versus grievance: A debate over whether rebellion is driven more by opportunities for profit or by political and social grievances. It tests whether resource revenues motivate rebellion or help explain recruitment through existing grievances.
Conflict resources: Natural resources whose extraction or trade helps finance or sustain armed conflict. They connect control of resource sites and trade routes directly to war financing.
Sierra Leone Civil War: A civil war fought in Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002 between government forces and rebel groups. The Revolutionary United Front financed its campaign through diamond mining and trade.
Civil war: An armed conflict between organized groups within the same state. Many resource wars are civil wars, but civil wars can arise without resource competition.
Blood diamond: A diamond mined in a conflict zone and sold to finance armed conflict or associated abuses. Sierra Leone and other conflicts made diamond revenues a focus of international controls.
Environmental security: The study of how environmental conditions affect the security of people, states, and societies. It asks when resource stress heightens conflict risk and when institutions prevent violence.

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WarBroader topic: Competition over resources can intensify disputes and help finance continued fighting.