Reciprocal Influence of the Countries Appealing to the Resource Nationalism Policy

Abstract

This paper examines the cases of resource nationalism policies in such oil producing countries as Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mexico, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia. All these countries were encouraged to adopt the resource nationalism policy due to various considerations; this article particularly reviews these factors behind resource nationalism. In this respect the article is divided into three parts. The first part explores the case of Venezuela to adopt resource nationalism policy based on economic factors of the resource nationalism policy, and particularly the correlation between the increase of oil prices and the increase of resource nationalism cases and the importance of oil as a strategic resource for the oil-producing countries. The second part reviews reciprocal influence of the countries experiencing a switch to resource nationalism such as OPEC countries; it examines whether such countries, while appealing to the resource nationalism policy, influence each other or refer (explicitly or implicitly) to each other as setting precedents. The third part of the article examines such political factors as regime change, which usually has a direct influence on the policy of a country towards foreign companies involved in its economy (many regime change cases ended with the total nationalization of an industry; for instance, Venezuela in 1976, Iran in 1979), and political ideology.