From Mines to Markets in the Middle East and Central Asia: Critical Mineral Suppliers and Dependencies in the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Villalobos, Fabian

Contributor:

Allendorf, Emily

Caulkins, Jo

Charan, Sophia

Silberglitt, R. S. (Richard S.)

Tariq, Zohan Hasan

Yoshiara, Elisa

Language:

English

Other Title:

From Mines to Markets in the Middle East and Central Asia

Place of Publication:

RAND Corporation 2024

Summary:

Around the world, countries are making commitments to reduce consumption of fossil fuels to address climate change: The leaders of countries in the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia are cognizant of these efforts, and some have plans to diversify their economies and reduce carbon emissions. Toward that end, many countries are looking to produce and procure clean energy technologies, but these technologies are reliant on critical minerals. Strategic and economic competition between the United States, Russia, and China has been the driver of many so-called de-risking policies, which aim to diversify critical mineral supply chains. The authors of this report conducted an examination of the critical mineral resources, extraction, trade flow, and requirements for the clean energy transition for the 21 countries in U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility (AOR). Deep-dive case studies were used to provide more context into the relationship of specific country and commodity combinations of interest. This report may be of interest to policymakers in the United States and other Western countries who are concerned with (1) diversifying critical mineral supply chains or (2) the potential for conflict surrounding mineral development; regional policymakers who want to develop domestic capacity for extraction, processing, and production of clean energy technologies; finance, mining, automotive, and clean energy technology companies in the private sector; and others.