ICE/WOW Cases Coding Document
Proposed ICE/WOW Case Format
Coding Document
For inventory purposes, each case is assigned a number, short
identifier, and description.
Case Number
Case Identifier
Case Description
The ICE case format is broken down into four parts: two general and
two specific. First, there is background information on the case.
Second, there are attributes of environment in the case and, third,
attributes of conflict. Finally, there is a section on related
information, especially available on the Web.
I. Case Background
This section provides four parts to orient the case. First, there
are two textual pieces: an abstract and a case descriptive report.
The years of the conflict and where it is are also indicated.
1. Abstract
A one paragraph description of the case.
2. Description
A report of a few pages describing the case, including a chronology
of events.
3. Duration
Duration shows the start and end dates for the conflict, from which
the years in the conflict can be determined. The dates can also
serve as a tracking system to follow current cases and provide
information relevant to them.
a. Start Date
b. End Date
4. Location
Location places the case by geography at the site of the conflict.
The Vietnam War was fought in Vietnam, by this logic, and not in
the United States. The category attributes are divided by the
continent, region and state. This format allows one to organize
cases, at least by differing theaters of interest.
Continent
Region
State
5. Actors
In this category the actors in the case are shown, broken down into
two parts. First, there are directly involved actors, and secondly
indirectly involved ones. This is an unlimited list.
II. Environment Attributes
This section includes environmental attributes and textual
discussion in the case study. It includes the type of
environmental problem and type of habitat in which the problem
occurs. Unlike the earlier location of the conflict site, it also
establishes where the harm in the case is coming from. Finally, it
establishes how the environment itself has become linked with
conflict through strategic interest.
6. Type of Environmental Problem
Environmental attributes are often divided between source
(resource) and sink (pollution) problems. Source problems are used
related to conflict as a cause, but sink problems are associated
with effects of conflict.
a. Source Problems [Habitat, Species Loss, etc.]
b. Sink Problems [Pollution, Waste, etc.]
7. Type of Habitat
The types of habitat are based on simple climatological precepts.
a. Dry
b. Cool
c. Temperate
d. Tropical
e. Ocean
f. Space
8. Act and Harm Sites
The state in Item #4 placed the conflict according to the site of
the conflict, which sometimes coincides with where the environment
is at issue. The site of the conflict and where it originates in
environmental terms may be different and this category points out
those instances.
Combinations of Act and Harm Sites (modified)
Site of Act Site of Harm Example
(1) Nation A Nation A Brazil deforests the Amazon
(2) Nation A Nation B Chernobyl disaster
(3) Nation A Commons Russian radioactive dumping in Arctic
(4) Commons Commons Over-fishing of salmon
(5) Commons Nation B Lebanon waste dumping
Source: Christopher Stone
III. Conflict Attributes
The conflict categories show the type and level of conflict, the link, the
outcome, the fatality level, and the level of strategic interest at issue. The
categories intend to provide specific information about policy variables related
to the conflict and how they link to environmental issues. Finally, the actors
in the conflict are indicated as are types of preventative measures.
9. Type of Conflict
Cases generally are those that occur within states or between them.
10. Level of Conflict
They further can be differentiated between those of a low and high value.
Whether the cases are low or high can be determined from Category #12 that sets
the fatality level. COW includes cases where the are 1,000 military fatalities,
but MID does not include the cases by level or even existence of fatalities,
whether civilian or military.
Threat and harm are also included where the preparation for conflict causes
environmental damage that may lead to fatalities. Israeli threats and later
bombing of Iraqi nuclear facilities were based in part on environmental concerns.
Likewise, weapons testing and foreign bases cause a host of environment problems.
a. Intrastate [Low, High]
b. Interstate [Low, High, Threat, Harm]
11. Fatality Level of Dispute (military and civilian fatalities)
Conflict data bases, especially COW, often focus on military fatalities. One
reason is that the data is simply that military death data is better than
civilian data. However, in this category an overall fatality level, by year,
will be attempted, broken down by civilian and military. In most cases, annual
data will be totals divided equally on an annual basis. The scale here is
divided into logarithmic levels.
1(1) = 1
1(2) = 10
1(3) = 100
1(4) = 1,000
1(5) = 10,000
1(6) = 100,000
1(7) = 1,000,000
1(8) = 10,000,000
1(9) = 100,000,000
IV. Conflict Environment Overlap
This section attempts to synthesize the conflict and environment attributes into
common measures.
12. Environment-Conflict Link and Dynamics
Is this case a direct conflict over an environmental issue (such as access to
resource) or is it indirect (the decline of resources leads to conflict)? Direct
cases are more often associated with short-term and indirect cases with long-term
issues. This makes a differences in preventative terms.
a. Direct (i.e., Resource)
b. Indirect (i.e., Scarcity)
13. Level of Strategic Interest
This category represents an ordinal variable, in locating the spatial scope of
interest in the case. The interests range from small to big in terms of
geography and by implication, level of strategy. The attribute also indicates
the level of alliance activity.
a. Outside Earth's Atmosphere
b. Global
c. Multilateral
d. Regional
e. State
f. Sub-state
14. Outcome of Dispute
Outcomes in these types of conflict are often nebulous and a matter of
perspective. This set of outcomes takes the position of the decision-maker in
the environmental conflict. The position is from the standpoint of the decision-
maker in the state at issue in the case.
a. Victory
b. Yield
c. Stalemate
d. Compromise
V. Related Information and Sources
The last section of information describes other places to go for these and other
cases.
15. Related Cases
This includes hyper-links to related cases in ICE or the Trade Environment
Database (TED).
16. Relevant Literature and Websites
Citations from journal and documents are included here.