Causes of Conflict

Territory:
Competition over border territory is an important cause of conflict among countries.
Countries will conflict if they their territory is being occupied by other countries as it is a
threat to the countrys sovereignty and especially if the piece of land is important for their
national pride or defence. An example will be the war between India and China. When India
gained independence in 1947, it inherited the frontier drawn by the British, a frontier which
China protested. In the late 1950s, China contested Indias presence in several localities
along the border, namely the Aksai Chin Plateau and the North East Frontier Agency
(NEFA). In 1958, China announced the building of the Aksai Chin Road. Tensions worsened
in 1959 when fighting broke out in the Aksai Chin Plateau and the NEFA. By the mid-1961,
China had occupied more territories which India viewed as its own. In 1962, war broke out
between India and China. In 2005, India and China signed an agreement to address the
border issue in a fair and reasonable manner.It is a matter of national pride for India not to
allow China to challenge her control over territories that she believes as legally hers. Not to
defend these territories would threaten Indias sovereignty as it could invite claims for more
territories later. Thus conflict between countries can arise due to conflict over territory.


Scare Resources:
Competition over scarce natural resources between countries is also an important cause of
conflict between countries. For example,the Icelandic Cod Wars in the 1970s. Iceland
has little natural resources and depended on its fishing industry for its survival. During the
1970s, the supply of fish around Iceland dropped because fishermen from other European
countries such as Germany, Belgium and Britain, were overfishing around Iceland. Iceland
sought help United Nations, but Britain continued to overfish around the waters of Iceland. In
1975, Iceland extended its zone of control of overfishing from 50 to 200 nautical miles
beyond its shore. Britain refused to acknowledge the new boundary so Iceland cut off its
diplomatic ties with Britain in February 1976. Ties were only restored in June 1976 when
Iceland and Britain signed an agreement. The agreement allowed for a maximum of 24
trawlers within the boundary at any one time and for Icelands patrol vessels to stop and
inspect any British trawler suspected of violating the agreement. This agreement lasted for 6
months, inn which afterwards, Britain had no more right to fish within the boundary. Thus
conflict between countries can arise due to conflict over scarce resources.

Ideological Differences:
Conflict over ideological differences is an important cause of conflict between countries. A
country will fight with other countries if they feel that the opposing ideology is a threat to their
country and her ideology. An example will be the Korean War. After World War II ended in
1945, the defeated Japanese soldiers left Korea and Korea was split into two at the 38
th

Parallel. The northern half was temporarily controlled by the USSR and the southern part by
the USA. In 1946, the UN called for a general election to form a single government to unite
Korea. The USSR refused the elections and installed a communist regime in the north,
called the Democratic Peoples Republic. With the help of the USA, the independent
Republic of Korea was formed in 1948. In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea to reunite
Korea under communism. Fearing the spread of communism, the UN, USA and its allies
defended South Korea. UN forces counter attacked and pushed North Korean forces back to
the 38
th
Parallel. In 1951, fearing its national interests will be threatened, China joined the
war and helped to push UN forces back into South Korea. In August 1953, an agreement
was signed by all parties and a demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea
was created. Differing values and beliefs among countries can cause conflicts. Countries
can come into conflict if they think their ideological beliefs are being threatened. Thus conflict
between countries can arise due to conflict over ideological differences.

Weighing:
Conflict over ideological differences > All Others:
Conflict over ideological differences is more important than conflict over territory and conflict
over scarce resources as 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. Thus, conflict over
ideological differences is thus the most important cause of conflict.