Resources and Conflict: Requirements and Vulnerabilities of the Industrialized World

Abstract

Since the early 1970s there has been a great deal of discussion, as well as a great deal of anxiety in the industrialized countries, about the security of supply of the most important industrial raw materials. It is interesting to note that there is less worry in the rich countries about supplies of foodstuffs, which, after all, are ultimately the most important commodities of all. The developed countries have devised incentive systems and farm-support measures which not only rule out the prospect of any serious shortages but actually generate regular and embarrassing surpluses. There are political explanations for this, with some implications for minerals policy, which will be touched on later in this paper.