In recent years, the international community has raised increasing concern about food as a crucial weapon in wars. This innovative exploration of “food warfare” examines how the use of food, and access to it, can undermine enemies and gain advantage in conflicts. Illustrated with empirical examples of the dynamics by which both state and non-state actors weaponize food, such as through blockades, sieges, food poisoning, and the targeting of food resources and infrastructure, this book sheds new light on the strategic rationale, tactical horizons and consequences of this method of warfare.

As Simone Papale shows, while its significance and impact in the current geopolitical landscape are growing, food warfare is not solely a modern phenomenon but a method of fighting conflicts that has characterised military activities since ancient times. Case studies from contemporary politics, including that of the war in Ukraine, the siege of Gaza, and terrorist insurgencies, are used alongside examples from early modern and pre-modern eras, such as the siege of Tenochtitlan in modern-day Mexico and Assyria's military campaigns, providing insights into its conceptual attributes in different contexts. The emerging story spans across four continents and three decades of history, through the most critical moments of one of the most challenging warfare practices of all time.