4.3.4 Geopolitics

Helpful prior knowledge and learning objectives

Helpful prior learning:


Learning objectives:

Local fishing communities in West Africa face a growing crisis. Industrial fishing fleets, often from large countries like China, use advanced technologies to extract large amounts of fish, sometimes with state licences that earn them revenues. Illegal fishing adds to the problem. Rising local demand for fish, driven by population growth and higher incomes, further depletes fish stocks.

Traditionally, these communities managed fisheries as commons, with rules ensuring sustainability. However, foreign fishing pressure, local overfishing, and climate change are overwhelming these efforts. Warming oceans push fish into deeper waters, beyond the reach of small-scale fishers. In contrast, industrial fishing boats equipped with satellites, radar, and artificial intelligence maximise their fish catches.

This crisis illustrates how competition for resources, unequal access to technology, and weak governance are just a few examples of how global forces can threaten commoning.

Photograph of Chinese fishing boats

Figure 1. Large fishing trawlers are depleting fish stocks in fragile ecosystems, threatening shared ocean resources

(Credit: Igor Groshev, licenced from Adobe Stock)

How does competition for resources threaten the commons?

Global political tensions often come from struggles over access to and control of resources. Geopolitics focuses on the relationship between power and resources on a global scale. It involves both political and economic power, as the two are closely connected, especially when critical resources are involved. As the global population grows and large businesses seek more raw materials to boost production and profits, competition for essentials like land, water, and minerals intensifies.

Global competition for resources like land, water, and minerals often harms both ecosystems and commons in a familiar pattern (Figure 2). About two billion (of eight billion) people rely on customary land rights. They don’t hold formal legal land titles but have used and managed the land for generations. These rights are frequently ignored when states sell or lease land to powerful businesses, prioritising tax or licensing revenues or foreign investment. This process, called enclosure, displaces commoners and disrupts their livelihoods (Section 4.3.2).

Displaced communities often move to cities or take poorly paid, unsafe jobs, sometimes for the same businesses that enclosed their lands. Meanwhile, overexploitation of resources, now treated as market commodities instead of care-wealth, harms ecosystems.

Figure 2. A familiar pattern of enclosure, human displacement, and environmental damage

The start of this section described this pattern with West African fisheries. More examples of commons resources threatened by powerful, global market and state interests include:

This pattern of displacement, ecological and human exploitation, often supported by international investors and  international organisations like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, as well as national governments,  shows the deep connection between resource enclosure from geopolitical forces and the destruction of commons.

Figure 3. Local commoners are often displaced by large multinational firms who buy or lease land from states for large-scale commercial agriculture for export

Figure 4. A satellite image of the Petorca province in Chile, an area of water intensive avocado production that has left local residents without access to water commons

Figure 5. An oil spill in the fishing village of Kegbara-Dere, Rivers State on the Niger Delta. Oil company Shell was held responsible.

How does lack of cooperation on planetary boundaries threaten the commons?

The planetary boundaries model (Figure 6) defines limits for Earth’s systems, such as climate change and biodiversity, freshwater and land use (Section 1.2.7). Crossing these boundaries threatens ecosystems globally. Reversing damage requires international cooperation, but political and economic priorities often undermine collective action among countries. Enforcement of current international agreements on climate and biodiversity is often weak or non-existent.

Climate change

Warming temperatures caused by greenhouse gas emissions disrupt ecosystems, leading to droughts, floods, and changing seasons. Communities managing shared resources, like water or farmland, struggle to adapt. For example, severe droughts in the Amazon have devastated resources vital for local commoning in indigenous communities and elsewhere (Figure 7).

Illustration of the planetary boundaries model

Figure 6. Planetary boundaries model

(Credit: Stockholm Resilience Centre CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Global efforts to address climate change include the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an agreement where nearly all countries agree to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, many prioritise short-term economic growth over long-term solutions, slowing progress. Without stronger cooperation, global warming will continue, leaving local communities to face its impacts alone. This lack of action puts shared resources like water, forests, and fisheries at risk of changes beyond any single community's control.

Biodiversity loss

Industrial activities like logging, mining, and large-scale farming destroy habitats and harm biodiversity and the communities that rely on these ecosystems. Indigenous communities, who safeguard 80% of Earth’s biodiversity, face increasing threats. International agreements, like the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), exist but lack strong enforcement.

Figure 7. Change in water levels in the Rio Negro in Brazil, from October 2022 (left) to October 2023 (right). Since then water levels have fallen even  further - use slider to see the change.

(Credit: NASA Earth Observatory, public domain)

How does the development of artificial intelligence (AI) threaten the commons?

Artificial intelligence (AI) could support commoning through better use of resources (Section 4.2.5). But AI can also  accelerate enclosure and resource depletion, reinforcing inequalities. That’s because AI is generally seen as a tool to help make the extraction of minerals, timber, water, and other natural resources more efficient and profitable.

Photograph of a backhoe with illustrations representing AI and digital tech

Figure 8. Artificial intelligence increase resource efficiency, but can also amplify power and control over resources for a few, negatively impacting commoning

(Credit: metamorworks, licenced from Adobe Stock)

Activity 4.3.4

Concept: Power

Skills: Thinking skills (critical thinking)

Time: varies, depending on option

Type: Individual, pairs, or group


Option 1: Connecting the dots on geopolitical threats to commoning

Time: 30-40 minutes, depending on discussion time at the end

The various geopolitical threats to commons were discussed separately, but you may have noticed that there are overlaps between them.



Option 2: Practising causal loops with feedback

Time: 30 minutes

The final section of text about artificial intelligence as a geopolitical threat to the commons suggests causal connections with reinforcing feedback that strengthens power for states and businesses who already have power.

Click the arrow to reveal a completed causal loop diagram

Ideas for longer activities and projects are listed in Subtopic 4.5 Taking action

Checking for understanding

Further exploration

Sources

Bollier, D. (2025). Think Like a Commoner, 2nd edition. Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers. https://www.thinklikeacommoner.com/

Federal Judicial Center. (n.d.). Customary law. Judiciaries Worldwide. Retrieved December 4, 2024, from https://judiciariesworldwide.fjc.gov/customary-law

Harvard International Review. (n.d.). The Arctic Circle. Retrieved December 4, 2024, from https://hir.harvard.edu/the-arctic-circle/

Heinrich Böll Stiftung. (2018, August 6). The socio-environmental impact of the avocado industry in Petorca Province. Retrieved December 4, 2024, from https://cl.boell.org/es/2018/08/06/socio-environmental-impact-avocado-industry-petorca-province

Koven, C. D., Steinkamp, M., & collaborators. (2022). “Competition for water induced by transnational land acquisitions for agriculture”. Nature Communications, 13, Article 28077. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28077-2

United Nations News. (2024, April 30). Global food and hunger challenges in 2024. Global Issues. https://www.globalissues.org/news/2024/04/30/36605

Terminology (in order of appearance)

Link to Quizlet interactive flashcards and terminology games for Section 4.3.4 Geopolitics


licence: a permit from an authority to own, use or do something

revenue: the money earned from selling a product

demand: the quantity of a product that consumers are willing and able to purchase at various prices

commons: a system where people self-organise to co-produce and manage shared resources.

sustainability: meeting people’s needs within the means of the planet

climate change: a change in the temperature and precipitation patterns in an area, in recent times due to human economic activities

artificial intelligence: computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence

governance: the process of overseeing the control and direction of something

geopolitics: the relationships between power and resources on a global scale

commoning: when a group of people self-organise to manage shared resources

power: the ability to influence events or the behaviour of other people

raw material: a basic material that is used to produce goods

profit: total revenue minus total cost

ecosystem: the interaction of groups of organisms with each other and their physical environment

commons: a system where people self-organise to co-produce and manage shared resources.

customary land right: a set of rules and norms that govern community allocation, use, access, and transfer of land

title: the formal document that states what a person's rights are related to property

state: a system that provides essential public services, and also governs and regulates other economic institutions

investment: money spent for the enhancement of human or physical capabilities

enclosure: the process that ended traditional rights on common land formerly held in the open field system and restricted the use of land to the owner

commoner: a person participating in a commons

overexploit: to use a resource excessively

commodity: something that can be bought and sold, often, though not always referring to raw materials

care-wealth: shared wealth that is created when people take care of forests, water, data, or urban spaces, and adopt these resources into their shared memory, culture, social lives, and identities

multinational company: a company that operates in its home country and at least one other country

groundwater: water that collects underground in soil or in rock crevices and pores

privatise: to transfer (a business, property or service) from public to private ownership and control

plantation: on which crops such as coffee, sugar, and tobacco are grown

export: send products to another country for sale

indigenous community: the original settlers of an area (pre-invasion/colonialism) who have retained their culture apart from colonisers

International Monetary Fund (IMF): an agency of the United Nations responsible for the financial stability of the global monetary system

World Bank: an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries with the goal of reducing poverty

planetary boundaries model: a model that illustrates these nine Earth systems and their limits

climate change: a change in the temperature and precipitation patterns in an area, in recent times due to human economic activities

biodiversity: the variety of living organisms on Earth

greenhouse gas: gases in Earth's atmosphere trap the Sun's heat, warming the planet

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): a global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to climate change and support climate action

economic growth: an increase in the total value of goods and services produced in a period of time

global warming: the rise in the average temperature of Earth's air and oceans (due to human activities)

habitat: the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): a global agreement between countries to protect biodiversity

efficiency: the ratio of resource inputs compared to outputs

private property: the ownership of property by private individuals and groups

market: a system where people buy and sell goods and services for a price.

state: a system that provides essential public services, and also governs and regulates other economic institutions

digital commons: a form of commons involving the distribution and communal ownership of information resources and technology

energy: the ability to do work or cause change

shortage: when there is temporarily not enough of something

data centre: a large group of connected computers that store, process, or distribute large amounts of data

reinforcing feedback: a situation where change in a system causes further changes that amplify the original change which can lead to tipping points in a system