IV. ENVIRONMENT AND CONFLICT OVERLAP 12. Environment-Conflict Link and Dynamics: This case is an indirect conflict over an environmental issue that has been ongoing for decades, especially since the end of colonialism in Nigeria and Cameroon. The diagram below shows the relationships among various actors in the dispute over Bakassi. Nigeria and Cameroon are the states that are in conflict, even though the International Court of Justice awarded the Peninsula to Cameroon in 2002. The Efike people are the current inhabitants of Bakassi who originally came from eastern Nigeria/western Cameroon are prior to the establishment of (artificial) colonial borders. The Bakassi Peninsula is inside the circle of artificial borders because historically there has not been a clear ownership of that area. The Efike consider themselves Nigerian and do not want to become Cameroon citizens because they have historical and linguistic ties to Nigeria, shown by the arrow from the Peninsula to the Efike box. The Ambazonians feel more linguistically linked to Nigeria, but also feel they are the rightful owners of Bakassi because they were removed from that land under the numerous transfers of power between Germany, Britain and France during colonialism. Both Nigeria and Cameroon are depleting their natural resources through overfishing and the desertification of the Sahara. The Ambazonians and Francophone Cameroonians have differing ties to Cameroon and the Bakassi Peninsula as the region was arbitrarily divided under colonial powers. 13. Level of Strategic Interest Bilateral 14. Outcome of Dispute Compromise Although the official outcome of the the dispute is a victory for Cameroon who legally acquired Bakassi, the two states are in a stalemate over the physical handover of land. Since breaking its promise to hand over the territory by September 15, 2004, Nigeria still control two-thirds of the peninsula. V. RELATED INFORMATION AND RESOURCES 15. Related ICE and TED Case Some of the attributes that relate to this case study were oil, water, fisheries, and other border disputes between countries. However, the Bakassi dispute has more to do with its potential for offshore oil drilling than access to waterways as both Nigeria and Cameroon have sizeable coastal areas. Keyword/Criteria Search for oil (with criteria most like this case study) No. 21 Spratly Islands Dispute (42%) In the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea, approximately 44 of the 51 small islands and reefs are claimed or occupied by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. The conflict is the result of overlapping sovereignty claims to various Spratly Islands believed to possess substantial natural resources - chiefly oil, natural gas, and seafood. No. 16 The Falkland Island Dispute (33%) The 1982 war over the Falkland/Malvinas Islands between Argentina and Britain was more than merely a sovereignty dispute. It was a political maneuver by the Argentine government to escape its own state of social chaos. No. 5 Peru-Ecuador Border Dispute (50%) The common border between Ecuador and Peru has been the source of conflict for the past 150 years, and the conflict re-ignited in January of 1995. The crisis began because of a poorly define peace agreement between the two countries in 1942. No. 34 Soccer War (33%) The border between El Salvador and Honduras has been in dispute since the Spanish arrived in Central America. The Spanish divided the territory into several viceroyalties whose borders have more or less remained since the sixteenth century. On June 15, 1969, after a large influx of Salvadorian refugees to Honduras, the border dispute flared into a full-fledge battle between the two countries.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 15:41:32 +0000
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