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GEORGIA JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW VOLUME 42 2013 NUMBER 1 SYMPOSIUM: INTERNATIONAL LAW IN A TIME OF SCARCITY ARTICLES INTERNATIONAL LAW IN A TIME OF SCARCITY: AN INTRODUCTION * Harlan Grant Cohen TOO LITTLE OF EVERYTHING Stories of scarcity litter the morning newspapers. States and companies race for control over limited supplies of minerals1 and fossil fuels.2 Water scarcity threatens China,3 Africa,4 and the American South.5 Food prices soar6 as extreme heat,7 drought,8 flooding,9 and severe rains10 destroy key * Associate Professor of Law, University of Georgia School of Law. 1 See Dan Levin, Wealth Rises In Mongolia, As Does Worry, N.Y. TIMES, July 16, 2012, at A4 (describing rush to mine Mongolia’s “treasure trove of copper, coal and gold”); see also Keith Bradsher, The Illegal Scramble for Rare Metals, N.Y. TIMES, Dec. 30, 2010, at B1 (describing disputes over rare earth minerals). 2 See Beth Gardiner, New Energy Opportunities and Old Disputes, INT ’L HERALD TRIB., Nov. 13, 2012 (describing race to develop undersea reserves in the Mediterranean); Jane Perlez, Dispute Flares Over Energy in South China Sea, N.Y. TIMES, Dec. 5, 2012, at A12; Mark Scott, Out of Africa (and Elsewhere): More Fossil Fuels, N.Y. TIMES, Apr. 11, 2012, at F2. 3 Scott Moore, China’s Massive Water Problem, INT ’L HERALD TRIB., Mar. 29, 2013. 4 Adam Nossiter, Late for School After a Long Journey for a Drop to Drink, N.Y. TIMES, May 22, 2012, at A10. 5 Felicity Barringer Diana B. Henriques, Water Scarcity a Bond Risk, Study Warns, N.Y. TIMES, Oct. 21, 2010, at B1 (“Water problems in California and Georgia have attracte