NEW DELHI – Competition for strategic natural resources – including water, mineral ores, and fossil fuels – has always played a significant role in shaping the terms of the international economic and political order. But now that competition has intensified, as it encompasses virtually all of Asia, where growing populations and rapid economic development over the last three decades have generated an insatiable appetite for severely limited supplies of key commodities.
新德里——由水、矿石和化石燃料等战略自然资源所引发的竞争一直在国际政治经济秩序的形成中发挥重要作用。但当前竞争已趋于白热化，几乎所有的亚洲国家都牵涉其中，三十年的人口增长和经济快速发展导致这些国家对严重短缺的主要商品胃口越来越大。