Resources, or natural resources in general, are all natural materials that people can use and that for that reason have some kind of importance attached to them. The economic and societal importance and the value of natural resources can change.

Conflicts around natural resources—today, a highly relevant topic. Often, threat scenarios are painted in which the increasing competition for natural resources worldwide gives cause to predict resource.

Resource-rich countries are not automatically wealthy. On the contrary, war and violence prevail in some of these countries. Resource-related conflicts are ignited by an unjust distribution of the proceeds or when living conditions in resource-rich regions deteriorate.

Nigeria, the most populated country in Africa, is also its largest oil producer and the country with the seventh highest production rate worldwide. Over two million barrels of crude oil are produced daily - the majority onshore, a smaller amount offshore.

Blood diamonds - hardly any key word is more to the point when describing the interrelation between war and resources. The term relates to civil wars in which rebels finance their bloody fight through the sale of diamonds.

In regions of conflict, drugs production and trade often play an important role besides other illegal activities. One basic question of conflict research is whether or not drugs cultivation and trade have a direct influence on armed conflict or even trigger or exacerbate such conflict.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the few countries in Africa in which, even today, armed conflict is financed through the trade in minerals. Reports of UN expert groups and increased interest by the media have highlighted the DRC as a sad example

The debate on conflict resources is mostly about extractive natural resources, such as metals, minerals and energy sources, i.e. gold, iron ore, diamonds and oil. Some of these natural treasures, such as diamonds and gold are particularly well suited for financing conflicts.

What can be done when international corporations support human rights violations and are implicated in wars through their business activities—and nobody punishes them for that? Can they be brought to account by the courts in their home country for crimes committed abroad?

Embargoes on arms deliveries and the diamond trade were very important tools for ending the civil wars in Sierra Leone and Angola that were financed by the trade in these precious stones.

The Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan, in short FLEGT, adopted in 2003 by the EU Commission, aims to prevent the import of illegal timber into the European Union and, with this, to contribute to the fight against illegal logging and more sustainable forestry in the timber exporting countries.

Overexploitation, environmental degradation, wage dumping and human rights violations: To avoid negative effects of natural resources exploitation (extractive industries) or the cultivation of crops (large-scale agricultural production), different actors have to cooperate.