The Rare Earths Era: Strategic Metals Dependency & World Order

by Juan Manuel Chomon

Overview

The Rare Earths Era: Strategic Metals Dependency & World Order addresses the centrality of 17 rare metallic elements necessary to the manufacture of a vast panoply of products developed through modern technology and in use worldwide—from smartphones, televisions, computers, and medical scanners to components of the most modern weapons systems in Western arsenals. Rare earths are hence crucial to strategic planning, whether for business, combating climate change, warfare, or ascendancy in world order.

Called "rare earths" because of the low concentration in which they are found, which makes their extraction polluting and difficult, the miraculous properties of these elements can endow other materials with an unalterable super magnetism, an amazing hardness or robustness, a unique luminescence or fluorescence, and a special conductivity. The world as we now experience, enjoy and understand it is absolutely dependent on access to these metals in order to produce today's technology. Without that, it's goodbye to modernity.

Rare earths may be key to understanding some of the most pressing geopolitical issues of our time. This book addresses the following questions:

* How did the world become so dependent and addicted to Chinese rare earth metals?
* Will critical minerals provide China with geopolitical leverage?
* How will the global needs for rare earths impact the transition to clean energy?
* What is the environmental impact of rare earths?
* What is the role of the strategic minerals in the de-dollarization process?
* Will we see new wars over rare earths resources?
* Are critical minerals really on the radar of Western politicians?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781949762891
Publisher:	Clarity Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	02/15/2024
Pages:	273
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Juan Manuel Chomon holds two Master's Degrees in Peace and Security Studies. Contributor to numerous international magazines such as The Diplomat, European Security and Defence Magazine, NATO Joint Air Power and Competence Centre among others, he has also published in prestigious think tanks including the European Union Think Tank and the Spanish Institute of Strategic Studies. He joined the Spanish Air Force in 1996 and holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Read an Excerpt

Today, it isn't easy to imagine our modern life without the 17 esoteric elements known as rare earths. Aside from a growing chorus of defense and policy experts, rare earths are not exactly a topic of daily conversation. But the modern life we now enjoy would be impossible without these elements. Our mobile phones, personal electronics, satellites, and cars simply do not work without them. They are the quintessential material of modern technology. The importance of rare earths in technology likewise applies to high-tech arsenals. Our precision munitions, communications, and almost everything else requiring super magnets and semiconductors are intrinsically tied to rare earth metals.
These omnipresent rare earth metals comprise 17 elements on the periodic table; the 15 elements of the lanthanide group, as well as scandium and yttrium, are further classified as light or heavy rare earths according to their atomic weight. The light rare earths are lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, and samarium. Heavy rare earths, which are rarer and consequently more valuable, include europium, gadolinium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium, together with scandium and yttrium.
The term referring to this new technological holy grail, rare earths, is surrounded by a certain ambiguity. Understanding the different meanings associated with its use is essential to understanding how their supply chain works and their strategic relevance. Whether out of ignorance or a desire to simplify key points for the population at large, both politicians and journalists erroneously use the term rare earths to refer not only to rare earths, but also other 'green metals' necessary for the green energy transition, such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel. While these green metals are certainly important for our envisioned green future and are inexorably intertwined with rare earths, we focus here largely on true rare earths, seeking to focus on the details regarding their most interesting secrets, and the devils hidden therein.
The critical strategic importance of rare earths is slowing emerging into the public forum, yet for all of their importance their procurement is concentrated in just two countries, China and Australia. Even then, the Asian giant controls 80% of the rare earths market, and if we look specifically at heavy rare earths, these figures nearly reach 100%.

Editorial Reviews

"Chomon's academic and international experience gives him the authority to reach valuable conclusions on such a complex and delicate subject. He is not half-hearted when it comes to pointing out the risks for the West of the Chinese monopoly on rare earths. His ability to disclose is accompanied by accurate data that compel us to reflect and for public authorities to act." — E. Figueredo, journalist, La Vanguardia, specialized in security matters

"Juan Manuel Chomon immerses us in the exciting reality of rare earths, revealing the West's dependence on minerals controlled for now by China and explaining how they could redefine global hegemony, spark resource wars and influence the energy transition. He asks: are we ready to understand how these strategic elements are redrawing the global geopolitical landscape?" — Christian D. Villaneva, CEO, ArmiesMagazine.com

"Chomon undertakes a deep dive into the rare earth metal supply chains which form the material underpinnings of the modern world, and skillfully articulates how these are impacting Western geopolitical priorities. Underpinning Chomon' work are two primary narratives: the first is the uneasy relationship between rare earth metals' potential to allow humanity to modernize and decarbonize society, and the massive ecological costs of their extraction and processing. The second is China's dominance of the rare earth supply chain at all levels, and whose metals are greatly needed for Western political, economic, and military ambitions to materialize. The interweaving of these two narratives reveals the uneasy tension which sits at the heart of many countries' plans for the future, with no simple solutions apparent." — MARK CAZELET, Editor in Chief, European Security and Defense.

"Chomon embarks us on a fascinating journey into the unknown world of rare earths. His multidisciplinary approach and penetrating view reveals to us the essential role these critical metals play in some of the biggest challenges the world faces in our days. Listening to his call to diversify supply chains and to comply with the global obligation of international collaboration is as crucial as it is urgent." — ARNAULD AKODJENOU, Senior Advisor for Africa of the Kofi Annan Foundation and Former Inspector General of the United Nations High commissioner for Refugees

"Interviews, visits, and trips were carried out around the world. The expeditionary spirit is accompanied by investigative scientific rigor. Thanks to an elegant exercise of analysis and disclosure, Chomon fuses and synthesizes information from many different sources and reveals with great amenity to the reality that lies behind these strategic and critical elements. He demonstrates his brilliant knowledge with respect to so many strategic as well as security issues in the rare earth context bridging the gap between theory and practice." — Professor Dr. Stefan Bayer, Head of Research German Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies and Co-Course Director of the Master of Military Leadership and International Security of the Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg, Germany.

 Lieutenant Colonel Chomon clearly and exhaustively exposes the current situation regarding the strategic minerals that are necessary to manufacture the technological or defense products that make our lives easier today. This is a book whose pages are a sort of written alarm that awakens us to the not-too-distant future that awaits us. MARIO BORREGO, Chief Director of the Program  5 Continents from the Spanish National Radio

"A very lucid essay that explains how vital rare earths are and issues a warning to the West regarding the control of these minerals in relation to industry and renewable energies. Without a doubt, it is a great prospective work that raises current problems and solutions for the future." Susana Calvo, Editor Chief of Revista de Aeron¡utica y Astron¡utica.

"Chomon's book provides a wake-up call with its analysis of questions surrounding strategic minerals and rare earths given how these figure not only into global war machines but provide the foundation for future environmentally sustainable societies as touted in the variety of "green new deals" (GNDs) on offer and so-called sustainable development goals proffered by United Nations development agencies."
RICHARD WESTRA, Journal of Contemporary Asia

From the Publisher