In the context of heightened geopolitical tensions, countries have begun to institute measures to ensure critical or strategic minerals security. Minerals security contributes to a range of national-level policy imperatives, from clean energy to military defence. At the same time, the pursuit of minerals security also dovetails with wider trends of geoeconomic fragmentation and bloc formation—with the West on one side, and countries such as China and Russia on the other. As major powers ‘de-risk’ and even ‘de-couple’ their supply chains from putative adversaries, more needs to be understood about how competing pursuits of critical or strategic minerals security interact, and what implications this competition has for global-level imperatives of green transition, sustainable development and peaceful interstate relations.

This SIPRI webinar centred on mineral resource competition. It focused on the policies of China, the European Union, Russia and the United States. Speakers unpacked the varying strategies and implications associated with this competition.

Watch a recording of the seminar below

Speakers

Dr Cullen Hendrix, Peterson Institute for International Economics

Dr Sophia Kalantzakos, New York University Abu Dhabi

Dr Florian Vidal, IFRI and The Arctic University of Norway

Dr Marina Zhang, University of Technology Sydney

Discussant

Dr André Månberger, Lund University

Moderator

Dr Jiayi Zhou, SIPRI