The Global Struggle for Minerals: A Historian's Perspective

Abstract

Competition for secure access to fuel and non-fuel resources has been an integral aspect of the global struggle for power since early in the century. This paper explores how the ability to acquire, defend, and deny to other powers access to key materials had a bearing on two world wars, on Soviet-US competition, and on conflicts between industrial and Third World countries. It shows that US leaders vacillated and neglected these perils until the late 1940s, often responding too little and too late. US leaders during the Cold War were sensitive to the lessons of the past, and devised an effective materials strategy that was weakened during a new period of neglect in the 1969s. Events of the last decade demonstrate that resource competition remains a central feature of international relations. A growing awareness of this reality is evident in recent US policy initiatives. 12 references.