May 05, 2023
Latin and South America Are a Key to the United States’ Critical Minerals Puzzle
Europe’s reliance on Russian oil and gas pales in comparison to the United States’ dependence on China for critical minerals. Amid heightened technology competition and a global push toward green energy, China’s dominance of the critical mineral supply chain presents the United States with an unsustainable strategic vulnerability. The United States should cooperate with partners in Latin and South America to mitigate risk and ensure supply chain resilience.
To prepare for such a contingency and reduce its reliance on Beijing, U.S. policymakers should look to Latin and South America.
Critical minerals form the backbone of the digital economy and modern military power. They underpin everything from computers and vacuum cleaners to advanced weapons systems and clean energy technologies like electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels.
Read the full article from The Diplomat.
More from CNAS
-
Commentary
Transatlantic Security / Technology & National Security
Look Before We Leap on Artificial IntelligenceThis article was originally published on The Dispatch. A debate about the role that artificial intelligence should and will play in society, and how it will affect humanity fo...
By Jon B. Wolfsthal
-
Podcast
Technology & National Security
Caleb Withers on the Cybersecurity Frontier in the Age of AICaleb Withers, research associate at the Center for a New American Security, joins Kevin Frazier, the AI Innovation and Law Fellow at the University of Texas School of Law and...
By Caleb Withers
-
Reports
Technology & National Security
Prepared, Not ParalyzedExecutive Summary The Trump administration has embraced a pro-innovation approach to artificial intelligence (AI) policy. Its AI Action Plan, released July 2025, underscores t...
By Janet Egan, Spencer Michaels & Caleb Withers
-
Commentary
Indo-Pacific Security / Technology & National Security
Sharper: Tech + ChinaRecent talks between President Donald Trump and Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping placed a spotlight on emerging technologies, from high-end chips to minera...
By Charles Horn & Sevi Silvia
