Antara Hazarika & Madhurjya Saikia
(Madhurjya Saikia can be reached at madhurjyatu15@gmail.com)
World War II left a power gap, sparking deep conflicts over Europe between two major powers with different beliefs. The U.S. started the Marshall Plan in 1948 to help rebuild Western Europe's economy. NATO, a Western military group, was formed in 1949. These steps aimed to boost European support for the West, push capitalism and free democracy, and stop communism from the USSR. The belief clash ended when the USSR fell, finishing the two-sided Cold War system. The 2008 world money crisis made people doubt Western ways of growing the economy. These events led to a shift toward a world with many power centres. During the 2010s, China emerged as a major global economic power, and the formation of BRICS in 2009 created new centres of influence. At the same time, Russia followed an expansionist policy driven by its desire to restore past imperial status and to meet its immediate needs for security and resources. With the rise of a new multipolar order, the global geopolitical landscape changed. Such developments included closer Russia-China cooperation, the growing influence of the Global South, changes in global energy alignments with increased importance of the Middle East, and the expansion of BRICS. In the post-COVID world, the global order has shifted from focusing mainly on low-cost international trade and supply chains to giving priority to security and self-reliant nationalism. Countries now emphasize "resource nationalism" and "de-risking", meaning they want greater control over important critical resources and fewer risks in supply chains. In this new world order, strategic minerals have taken the place of fossil fuels as the main source of global power, changing international power relations.
Strategic minerals are crucial and basic materials used in modern technology. They are essential for making electronic and semiconductor devices such as transistors, integrated circuits (microchips), optical fibres, and MOSFETs. A strategic mineral is anything that is vital for a country's military, industrial, and commercial needs. These minerals help strengthen national defence capabilities and are required for manufacturing military equipment. Strategic minerals are also important for the clean energy transition. They are needed to produce electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines, and solar panels. In the field of nuclear energy, minerals such as uranium and thorium play a key role. Because of their wide use and strategic importance, these minerals have become valuable national assets that will influence future global power dynamics and a country's ability to emerge as a global superpower. Important categories of strategic minerals include Rare Earth Elements (REEs) such as neodymium, dysprosium, and terbium; energy transition metals like lithium, cobalt, graphite, and nickel; and traditional strategic resources such as uranium, thorium, crude oil, copper, and silver. Countries compete strongly to secure these minerals for their economic growth and strategic strength.
Countries that aim to become strong security providers have redesigned their strategies to focus more on exploring and securing mineral resources. History is repeating itself, as a new competition has emerged among nations to control regions rich in critical minerals. This struggle over mineral-rich areas has become a new global ambition for many countries. Earlier, global competition focused on spreading ideologies by promoting political and economic models. This has now changed. Today, countries are focussing more on controlling important geographical areas rich in strategic minerals. This shift supports their ambition to become net security providers and to challenge the existing bipolar world order by moving toward a multipolar system. As a result, countries are making continuous efforts to gain control over the supply chains of strategic minerals. Having dominance in these supply chains gives nations a strong advantage in producing and exporting key technologies. These include defence and aerospace equipment, green energy systems, energy storage and climate technologies, artificial intelligence and AI-based devices, quantum technologies, automation, advanced cybersecurity, robotics, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and advanced military capabilities. It will also support the global transition to a low-carbon economy.
In a rules-based world order, global institutions oversee how power, authority, and rules are organized through international laws and sanctions. Article 2(4) of the UN Charter protects the sovereignty of each state, allowing every country to establish its own unique identity and define its role in the global system. In the context of the world order, states often operate within balance-of-power doctrines to maintain a Nash equilibrium. The key instruments employed include international law and the use of force, trade wars and tariff policies, climate agreements, nuclear deterrence, and the pursuit of global dominance through soft power and debt-based influence aimed at reasserting U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere and countering the growing influence of Russia, China, and Iran in the region. The recent actions that the U.S. has taken toward Venezuela, including making territorial claims, have shown a strong desire to control the country's strategic minerals and crude oil as well as their supply and production. People see these measures as bringing back the Monroe Doctrine. The goal? The goal is to restore U.S. power in the Western Hemisphere and limit the growing sway of Russia, China, and Iran in the area. The U.S. wants Greenland for its strategic mineral wealth. These resources are becoming easier to get as Arctic ice melts due to climate change. Under Greenland's ice, there is a high probability of finding rare earth elements, critical minerals, and strategic metals. The USA needs these for modern tech and to maintain dominance over the global supply chain. They're keys to economic success and national security. Right now, China has a tight grip on the global supply of rare earths. The U.S. wants to change this. As the ice melts, it costs less to extract these resources. This makes Greenland a future treasure trove. If the U.S. could control or influence Greenland, it would secure reliable access to these minerals. The result would stop rival powers-China-from gaining influence and help the U.S. keep its tech and military edge for years to come.
India's policy reflects a pragmatic shift in strategic autonomy through prioritizing national interest and balancing historical principles with modern geopolitical realities. By prioritizing economic realism, New Delhi maintains stable relations with major powers while securing vital energy interests and recovering foreign dues. This approach shifts focus from ideological fracture to consular protection and citizen safety. India's diplomacy prioritises long-term stability and trade diversification, safeguarding national interests in a volatile global market without jeopardising crucial bilateral negotiations.