Talking about security in the era of high-tech and green-tech: China’s empathy with Russia and the rare earths trade with the West

ABSTRACT

As high technology and green transition gain momentum in modern life, global supply chains of resources like rare earths become vital. China is the dominant actor in this market, Russia already holds a strategic niche albeit as an emerging actor, whereas the West is a “latecomer”, lagging considerably behind. Against the backdrop of ever deepening geopolitical fault lines, the article views the China/Russia – West rare earths trade through the lenses of weaponized interdependence. In particular, it employs this theoretical account for the first time from a non-Western angle and proves that in the recent wave of globalization not all the most central nodes are territorially concentrated in the advanced economies of the West. Moreover, it demonstrates that the West’s domination of relevant innovation cycles is not as absolute and autonomous as propounded by the theory. The conclusions summarize China’s (and Russia’s) panopticon effects on the rare earths trade with the West, and show that should their security concerns be overlooked, they are likely to escalate to chokepoint effects to the detriment of the global economy.

KEYWORDS:

• Modern economy
• rare earths
• China
• Russia
• West
• weaponized interdependence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).