Exploring the Geopolitics of Rare Earth Minerals

About this episode

The episode explores the geopolitical implications of rare earth minerals and China's dominance in the market.

Rare earth elements sit at the heart of the clean energy transition, digital infrastructure, and advanced weapons, yet public debate often treats them as mysterious and easily weaponized. China dominates the processing and magnet making stages that turn raw ore into strategic inputs, which fuels concern in Washington, Brussels, Tokyo, and elsewhere about overdependence on a single supplier. On December 4, Wikistrat hosted critical minerals expert Dr. Marina (Yue) Zhang to examine how China built this position, what it really means for energy security and defense, and how the rare earths market could evolve over the next years

People in this episode

Host: Wikistrat

Guest: Dr. Marina (Yue) Zhang

Topics covered

• geopolitics
• rare earth minerals
• clean energy transition
• energy security
• defense
• China's market position

Keywords

• rare earth elements
• clean energy
• China
• energy security
• geopolitics
• strategic inputs
• defense

Mentioned in this episode

Places: China, Washington, Brussels, Tokyo

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