Resource Nationalism: A Perennial Play
Connect these dots: FIRST INSTANCE: 1953 Iranian Oil Nationalization. When Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now BP) in 1951, citing resource sovereignty, the act was swiftly met with a joint CIA/MI6-orchestrated coup in 1953. Western powers, particularly the US and UK, framed this as a necessary intervention to protect global oil supply and
prevent communist influence, not as a direct response to a challenge to their economic interests (US State Department, 1954 - declassified 2013). REPETITION 1: 1973 Chilean Copper Nationalization. Salvador Allende's socialist government in Chile nationalized major copper mines, many owned by US corporations like Anaconda and Kennecott. The Nixon administration, through the CIA, destabilized the
Chilean economy and supported a military coup led by Augusto Pinochet in 1973. This was presented as combating Marxism in the Western Hemisphere, deflecting from the direct economic motivation of regaining control over vital resources (Church Committee Report, 1975). REPETITION 2: 2010 Chinese Rare-Earth Export Quotas. China, having established dominance in rare-earth processing, began imposing
export quotas. This move, framed by Beijing as environmental protection and sustainable development, was decried by the US and EU as an unfair trade practice and a threat to global supply chains. The WTO ruled against China in 2014, leading to the removal of quotas but signaling intensified resource competition (WTO dispute DS431, 2014). OUTCOMES: In all these instances, state-backed