The trajectory of resource wars: An investigation of the etiology and escalation of intergroup violent conflicts over water

This paper examines the development and escalation of intergroup conflict over water resources, or so called "water wars." Issues of territoriality and rivalry, along with specific features of water are incorporated into existing theories that purport to explain violent conflict, including expected utility theory, deprivation theory, and models devised by theorists from the environmental security field. This study examines violent conflict involving more than 25 casualties in three areas: the Mai Mahiu region of Kenya in 2005, the Sindh province of Pakistan in 2001, and the State of Karnataka in India in 2002. Using a comparative and focused case study approach, the events in these areas are examined to determine what psychological, social, and/or structural changes occurred within the parties, what factors were important in these shifts, and whether or not the parties pursued non-violent conflict resolution methods.