President Trump’s ‘Project Vault’ echoes strategic concerns that gave rise to the National Defense Stockpile during the Cold War era, but this new US critical mineral stockpiling effort must navigate a profoundly different policy context and global market.

The US-Pakistan rare earths deal looks like a win-win: the US diversifies its rare earth supply chain, Pakistan hedges on FDI. But the optics begin to strain when technological, regulatory, and security realities are considered.

Despite intensifying rivalry, Beijing and Washington are engaged in a complex strategy of sectoral hedging, balancing military denial with commercial cooperation in critical minerals.

A deal between the US DoD and MP Materials to restart rare earth production at Mountain Pass in California is a page out of China’s industrial policy rulebook. But it will be years before US domestic rare earth production can catch up.

Hopes of diversifying supply chains have suffered a blow with the recent closure of the Balama graphite mine in Mozambique.

Rare earth element mining may bring economic growth to Bolivia, but it’s highly unlikely to break the land-locked country out of its long-term dependence on primary exports.

Recounting how Washington went from world leader in rare earth element production to struggling to play catch-up with Beijing.

The Indian diaspora, with its deep-rooted ties and understanding of local contexts, could be the catalyst for New Delhi’s enhanced engagement with Africa’s rare earth elements sector.

Rare earth minerals are becoming a consistent theme in US diplomacy and trade policy.

Rare earths have emerged as a new variable in the US-China trade war. Is China’s near-monopoly on these strategic resources its ultimate trump card, or will US producers be able to diversify supply amid the new normal of bilateral tension.

Japan’s massive rare earth mineral discovery could break China’s monopoly and recast bilateral relations between the two countries.