SS Notes 1: Reasons for conflict between countries.

Factors: Conflict over territory, conflict over scarce resources and conflict over ideological
differences.

Conflict over territory: Conflict over territory is an important cause of conflict between countries.
When two or more countries stake claim over a tract of land, it causes conflict between these
nations particularly if the land means a lot to the countries. An example of this is the Sino-Indian War
of 1962. Both China and India were locked in a border dispute following India’s independence. China
had built a road in Aksai Chin plateau, one of the contested tracts of land which led to rising tensions
between China and India which finally culminated in a brief war. Thus, conflict between countries
can arise due to conflict over territory.

Conflict over scarce resources: Conflict over scarce resources is an important cause of conflict
between countries. When countries have scarce resources they might use force to gain more. This
causes conflict. An example of this is the Iceland Cod Wars. Iceland increased its fishing zone from 50
to 200 nautical miles from shore in 1975 in response to overfishing in the area by British trawlers.
However, Britain refused to recognize the new boundary and cut ties with Iceland in February 1976.
The two countries eventually reached an agreement on June 1976 but there were many clashes
between the Icelandic Coast Guard and the British Royal Navy during that period. Thus conflict
between countries can arise due to conflict over scarce resources.

Conflict over ideological differences: Conflict over ideological differences is an important cause of
conflict between countries. Differing values and beliefs among countries can cause conflicts.
Countries can come into conflict if they think their ideological beliefs are being threatened. An
example of this is the Korean War fought between the communist North Korea and the democratic
South Korea and their respective allies. The fighting brought destruction to many people in Korea. In
August 1953, a ceasefire was negotiated by the two parties and a demilitarized zone between North
Korea and South Korea was created. Thus conflict between countries can arise due to conflict over
ideological differences.

BOC:

Conflict over ideological differences > Conflict over territory + Conflict over scarce resources: Conflict
over ideological differences is more important than conflict over territory and conflict over scarce
resources as conflict over ideological differences is the root cause of conflict. Countries with differing
ideological beliefs are often unwilling to negotiate with each other whereas countries sharing similar
ideology can negotiate peacefully to solve conflicts over territory and scarce resources. As this lack
of diplomacy is the underlying cause of conflict, conflict over ideological differences is thus the most
important cause of conflict.