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Towards global cooperation in securing critical minerals: Game theory analyses of policy discourses from the United States, the European Union, South Africa and Australia

Author

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  • Runganga, Desire
  • Bharadwaj, Bishal
  • Cabalu, Helen
  • Ashworth, Peta

Abstract

This paper analyses over 2000 critical minerals policy submissions from the United States, the European Union, Australia, and South Africa (2010–2024). Integrating game theory with critical discourse analysis reveals how four dominant discursive strategies—securitisation of dependence, recontextualisation of exclusion, moralisation of domestic hierarchy, and moralisation of unilateral rule-setting—map onto specific non-cooperative game archetypes: the Prisoner's Dilemma, Stackelberg Followership, Assurance Game and Stag Hunt. Together, these strategies form a multi-level game that incentivises subsidy races and regulatory arbitrage, pushing the global system toward suboptimal outcomes of underfunded and inequitable value chains. To escape this equilibrium, the paper proposes an Integrative Mineral Criticality (IMC) framework to reconceptualise global governance of critical minerals as a cooperative game.

Suggested Citation

  • Runganga, Desire & Bharadwaj, Bishal & Cabalu, Helen & Ashworth, Peta, 2025. "Towards global cooperation in securing critical minerals: Game theory analyses of policy discourses from the United States, the European Union, South Africa and Australia," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:111:y:2025:i:c:s0301420725003344
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105792
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    References listed on IDEAS

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