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The precision weapons used by the U.S. military share something in common with the Toyota Prius: They both depend on components made from rare-earth metals. China is the world's dominant rare earths producer, and strategic thinkers are starting to worry about this strategic supply -- particularly amid concerns that China may hoard or restrict access to the rare-earth materials that the military depends on.
It's like a reprise of the old Life in Hell comic: The single-theory-explains-everything professor who warns, "The nation that controls magnesium controls the universe!"
Reuters is the latest to warn of a looming shortage in these rare-earth metals, which are used for everything from smart phones to flat-screen TVs. But as Christine Parthemore of the Center for a New American Security recently noted, such concerns about scarce strategic resources have been around for years. Writing at the CNAS Natural Security blog, Parthemore revisited the work of Harold Barnett, author of the 1963 tome Scarcity and Growth: The Economics of Natural Resource Availability. Barnett's work is relevant today, but as Parthemore notes, the traditional stockpiling system that Barnett advocated may not do the trick.
The Pentagon is likely to take a closer look at this issue: The House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act -- currently awaiting resolution -- both contain measures that would require the Department of Defense to study the military applications of rare-earth metals and look for alternatives to foreign supply. (Both versions are embedded in Parthemore's post.)
If you really want to geek out on this, you can also read the 2008 Strategic Materials Industry Study, a report produced for the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. The research group visited mines and research facilities in the United States, and traveled to Zambia to explore copper and cobalt mining and processing options. That report drew on “Managing Materials for a Twenty-First Century Military,” a 2008 National Research Council report that also examined the problem.
[PHOTO: Wikimedia]
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