Daniel Hill and Rebecca Lucas
Leaders at NATO's 75th anniversary summit have pressing topics to address, prominently including supply chain resilience and economic security. Of particular concern are mounting threats to the critical raw materials (CRM) that NATO members need to sustain their militaries, defense industries, and wider economies in peacetime and crisis.
While the United States and the European Union have taken steps to ensure these supplies, NATO has been less proactive. In part, this reflects the alliance's focus on military rather than economic levers of power. But securing CRM supplies demands cooperation, resources, and global networks—and NATO is a forum where a more forward-leaning policy could enable fruitful collaboration.
Materials such as cobalt, silicon metals, lithium, and rare earth elements are the fundamental building blocks for diverse products, including renewable energy, telecommunications, infrastructure, and defense equipment. The complex global supply chains for these raw materials are fraught with vulnerabilities and dependencies—not only in mining, but also in necessary processing. As CRMs become more important, the global supply chain is beset with chokepoints and bottlenecks, as well as the possibility of coercion.
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