The role of natural resources in international relations in the 20th – early 21st century

The availability of natural resources has always been one of the most important aspects of international relations, which have historically developed as a system of interconnections between different countries. However, there is a problem of natural resource scarcity in the world, thus, it is necessary to understand how markets influence national policies and how states can intervene and regulate the balance of natural resources and energy markets, which is the relevance of the study. The purpose of the study is to determine the impact of natural resources on the development of international relations in the 20th – early 21st centuries. To achieve this purpose, the study uses general scientific and special methods: historical, synchronous and diachronic, logical, analysis and synthesis, generalisation and quantitative comparison, scientific abstraction, and comparative analysis. The study established that the United States of America, South America and the Middle East had significant reserves of oil, natural gas, coal and precious metals. In addition, as noted, at the end of the 20th century, the issue of energy security was increasingly used to define international energy policy, and at the beginning of the 21st century, energy became one of the important aspects of geopolitics and an instrument of geopolitical competition. The consolidation of economic interests realised through the exploitation of natural resources is becoming the foundation for conflicts between different countries seeking to dominate the global resource market. It is established that the policy of the United States of America in the Middle East was based on an attempt to control natural resources, and in South America - on supporting its national interests. The practical significance of the study allows exploring key issues in international relations for an in-depth understanding of the balance of geopolitical forces in the 20th – early 21st centuries