Resource Geopolitics| Class 12 Political Science Notes

Resource Geopolitics is a subpart of Class 12 Political Science Chapter 6 which is the Environment and Natural Resources. Resource Geopolitics is a method to study how natural resources actually affect the power and influence the states to achieve their further political goals. It majorly analyzes the inter-state rivalry that originated from Western geopolitical thinking. This thought also influences and dominates the relationship between trade war and the power of a country. As an example, we can talk about the oil and oil reserves. Oil is that type of commodity which have the power to generate so much wealth. There are so many industrialized countries that may deploy their all types of military sections to show their power along the sea lines and near the exploitation sites. Resource Geopolitics comes into this picture to study how the states are using their resources to show themselves strong to the world.

In this article, we are going to discuss the Class 12 Political Science Chapter 6 subpart Resource Geopolitics in detail.

Resource Geopolitics – Overview

Class 12 Political Science Chapter 6 subpart Resource Geopolitics describes the method to study how natural resources actually affect the power and influence the states to achieve their further political goals. Let us discuss. 

• Resource Geopolitics describes the process of who gets what, when, where, and how. 
• During the time of the Cold War, there are so many countries in the North adopted many methods to ensure the continuous flow of resources.
• Oil is the most important resource which can affect the global strategy. This commodity has a high strength to generate so much wealth. Oil also can control the political struggles that can happen due to geopolitics. 
• The 30 percent of the total global oil production takes place in West Asia, particularly the Gulf region tops about this matter. 
• Water and water borders are the most important resource that is also relevant to resource geopolitics. The regional variations and the scarcity of fresh drinking water in the whole world are also considered the leading sources of geopolitical conflicts in the 21st century. 
• There are so many conflicts that take place between the different countries that shares the same rivers. This conflict may lead to the major military conflicts further.

Resource Geopolitics – Oil and Water

The Resource Geopolitics dynamics generally evolve with the allocation of resources. The resources are the major diving source that helped in the power expansion process of Europe as history says. The inter-state competition is totally based on resources in different ways like trade, warfare, and dominance. These factors played a major role in Western geopolitics. The main concern was there the overseas resources and maritime routes. In the 17th century, there was a steady supply of timber which was a major objective for all European Powers. At this time, Europe started to dominate the waterlines during the world wars. The important things supplied through these routes and majorly oil. 

During the Cold War, the northern nations industrialized themselves through different tactics of safeguard including resource flow management and military deployment. The diplomatic relations helped the friendly nations and other nations came under the agreement of the multinational cooperations. At this time, oil became an important commodity and so many nations started their rivalry due to this. Gradually West Asia, specifically the Gulf Region emerged as a place of oil resources. Around 64 % of known reserves of oil are found in the Gulf Region. 

After this, the water also became a part of the dispute. It became a critical factor because of the context of the freshwater reserve. There are certain regions in the world where the freshwater reserve is too low. This also created so many conflicts and led to water wars. Another water dispute happened over pollution, irrigation, and dam construction which highlighted the potential conflicts as well, The Resource Geopolitics studies the sharing of river basins that can lead to military tensions.  

Conclusion

Class 12 Political Science Chapter 6 subpart Resource Geopolitics describes the method to study how natural resources actually affect the power and influence the states to achieve their further political goals. Resource Geopolitics is a method to study how natural resources actually affect the power and influence the states to achieve their further political goals. It majorly analyzes the inter-state rivalry that originated from Western geopolitical thinking. In this article we have discussed the diffrent facts and aspects of Resource Geopolitics in detail.

Read More

• Types Of Resources
• Environment and Natural Resources
• Resource Planning: Class-10 Notes
• What is Scarcity and How it Works?
• India’s Stand on Environmental Issues
• Development of Resources – Class 10 Notes
• Resources and Their Types – Class-10 Notes
• Geopolitics of India: Challenges & Opportunities for India

Resource Geopolitics- FAQs

What is resource geopolitics?

Resource geopolitics is the study of the relationship between natural resources and international relations. It is concerned with how the control of resources can affect the power and influence of states, and how states can use resources to achieve their political goals.

What natural resource plays a role in geopolitics?

Natural resources play a critical role in shaping the geopolitical landscape of the world. Access to these resources, such as oil, rare earth minerals, water, and agricultural land.

How is oil a geopolitical resource class 12?

Oil is the resource which generates immense wealth hence it creates political struggles involving industrialized countries to adopt various methods to ensure steady flows of oil. These include deployment of military process near exploitation sites and along sea lanes of communications.

What do you mean by resource geography?

Resource geography is an integrating subject for two major concepts in geography i.e. human and the nature. Nature in these disciplines implies natural resource and human includes human beings, their cultures and the technological advancement which has been achieved by humans as a collective whole.

Why is oil important in geopolitics?

Changes in oil prices and availability continue to affect economic growth prospects, international security and political stability of consuming countries.