Strategic divergences: Comparing national approaches to critical raw materials

Critical raw materials have become central in policy debates due to their importance for economic growth and national security, as well as the vulnerabilities arising from the geographic concentration of their supply chains. Alongside intensifying geopolitical tensions, these factors have prompted many countries to adopt national strategies aimed at mitigating supply-chain risks or securing a position in the expanding global market. Although these strategies tend to share similar objectives, they differ across several important dimensions, depending on the priorities emphasized by policymakers during their formulation. In this article, we introduce an analytical framework to map and explain such divergences. We apply this framework to examine national strategies on critical raw materials developed in 23 jurisdictions worldwide since 2008. Combining qualitative content analysis with descriptive statistics, we investigate the evolution of these strategies over time and identify the main drivers behind variation in national approaches to critical raw materials governance.