The Role of Land and Natural Resources in Negotiating Peace Agreements

Abstract

Drawing on the growing genre of literature on “environmental peacebuilding,” this article develops a qualitative model of how land and natural resources (including minerals, water, forests, and agricultural products) contribute to the framing of conflicts and how they might contribute to their resolution. We considered twelve cases of peace processes in which land and resources played a role and developed a causal link typology of the nexus between natural resources and conflict. Based on extensive archival research and interviews, we then developed a series of causal variables and pathways that were synthesized into our qualitative model—the Peace and Natural Resource Nexus (PNRN) Model. Our analysis suggests that there are opportunities for making peace through a nexus with natural resources and for making peace agreements more robust with greater attention to natural resource linkages even if they might not be the dominant cause of conflict. Attention to the role of natural resources in conflicts and the inclusion of environmental and natural resource factors in the negotiation of peace agreements are thus likely to be advantageous across a wide spectrum of conflicts.