ABSTRACT
The 1972-73 Middle East oil embargo, subsequent fivefold energy price increases, and global economic shocks were the events that triggered both the heightened level of concern and virtually all of the government studies about domestic minerals vulnerability. The principal difference between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) and the United States regarding strategic materials according to many of the government studies is that the U.S.S.R. recognizes its raw materials and industrial limitations and has focused on geopolitical control of necessary supplies in order to reduce its risks. United States businesspeople operating in the healthy atmosphere of free enterprise have forged relationships for the United States much stronger than any government or military force could. Post-colonial independence and nationalism since the 1950s has changed Africa's economic aspirations and political structure. The real dependence is that the rest of the world is dependent on the United States for financing, technical knowledge, and for their markets and national economic stability.
