Rare Earth Elements in the Deglobalisation Landscape
Rare earth elements (REEs) comprise a group of 17 metallic chemical elements that include the 15 lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium. Despite the name, they are relatively abundant in the Earth’s crust, but concentrations high enough for economical mining are rare. They are critical components in high-tech devices (smartphones, magnets, lasers), renewable energy technologies (wind turbines, electric vehicle motors), defense systems (guidance, sensors), and industrial catalysts.
Why They Matter Strategically
- Supply bottlenecks and “choke points”: A handful of countries currently dominate mining, processing, and refining of REEs — creating vulnerability to supply disruption, export controls, or geopolitical pressure.
- Essential for the energy transition: REEs are crucial for efficient motors, magnets, and batteries. Without secure access, clean energy deployment (wind, EVs, solar) slows.
- Military & technology edge: REEs are vital for radar, missile systems, lasers, and advanced sensors. The inability to source them undermines defense capabilities and strategic autonomy.
Deglobalisation Pressures & Shifting Dynamics
In a deglobalising world — where trade barriers, supply chain reshoring, and strategic decoupling are intensifying — REEs have become a geopolitical fulcrum:
- National security framing: Governments increasingly treat REEs as critical minerals, embedding them within strategic resilience policies, export controls, stockpiles, and domestic industrialization mandates.
- Vertical integration and local processing: Instead of relying on global value chains, states are pushing to internalize mining, refining, and manufacturing of REEs to reduce dependency and buffer against external shocks.
- Alliances and supply partnerships: Countries are forming exclusive supply frameworks (e.g., U.S.–Australia, U.S.–Japan) to lock in access to rare mineral supply within deglobalised blocs.
- Resource nationalism & trade limits: Some producer states may impose export quotas, higher royalties, or restrict foreign ownership of REE assets to retain more value domestically.
- Reluctance of cross-border investment: Private capital flows into REE projects may shrink under risk aversion, prompting more state-led or sovereign-backed ventures.
Key Risks and Policy Imperatives
| Risk | Implication | Policy Response |
| Supply concentration | Sudden export bans or restrictions can disrupt entire industries | Diversify supply sources; invest in alternative REE extraction/refining capacity |
| Environmental & social pushback | REE mining can be ecologically harmful and socially contested | Strengthen ESG regulation, community compensation, and reclamation standards |
| Technological substitution | Over-reliance on single REEs may make sectors vulnerable | Invest in alternative materials and recycling/circular economy of REEs |
| Export retaliation & trade wars | Strategic bans could trigger countermeasures, especially in deglobalised blocs | Build trade diplomacy, alliances, and mutual supply guarantees |
Takeaway:
In a world trending toward fragmentation, control over rare earth elements has become a pivot of strategic autonomy and industrial sovereignty. For nations and firms navigating this era, the mission is clear: secure diversified REE supply chains, invest in downstream processing, and build resilient, localized ecosystems while managing environmental and geopolitical risks.
