The Race for What's Left : The Global Scramble for the World's Last Resources

The world is facing an unprecedented crisis of resource depletion - a crisis that goes beyond "peak oil" to encompass shortages of coal and natural gas, copper and cobalt, water and arable land.

With all of the Earth's habitable areas already in use, the desperate hunt for supplies has now reached the final frontiers. "The Race for What's Left" takes us from the Arctic to war zones to deep ocean floors, from a Russian submarine planting the country's flag under the North Pole to the large-scale buying up of African farmland by Saudi Arabia and other nations.

As Michael T. Klare explains, this frenzy of extreme exploration and acquisition carries grave consequences.

With resource extraction growing more complex, the environmental risks are becoming increasingly severe: the Deepwater Horizon disaster is only a preview of the dangers to come.

At the same time, the intense search for dwindling supplies is igniting new border disputes, raising the likelihood of military confrontation.

The only way out, Klare argues, will be to alter our consumption patterns altogether - a crucial task that will be the greatest challenge of the coming century.