Module 6: Geopolitics of Rare Earths and Critical Materials

Module 6: Geopolitics of Rare Earths and Critical Materials

oiip Academy

Module 6: Geopolitics of Rare Earths and Critical Materials
30. April 2026

Sign up

Portrait: Hanna Murat

Hanna Murat
Affiliated Researcher

Fees per module:
€ 350.- Professionals
€ 150.- Students

Rare earth materials and other critical minerals have become indispensable building blocks of the green and digital transitions — from electric vehicles and renewable energy to advanced electronics, defence systems, and AI infrastructure. Their extraction, processing, and trade are highly concentrated in a small number of states, creating strategic dependencies that increasingly shape global geopolitics. This module explores how competition over critical minerals is transforming power relations between major actors such as China, the United States, the European Union, and the Global South, and examines how material constraints influence foreign policy, industrial strategy, and security planning.

Course Objectives:

By the end of the one-day module, participants will be able to:

  • Understand the strategic relevance of rare earths and critical minerals for modern technologies, industrial competitiveness, and national security.
  • Analyse geopolitical dependencies and vulnerabilities within global critical-mineral supply chains, including extraction, refining, and component manufacturing.
  • Evaluate how major powers use critical minerals as tools of geoeconomic influence, with a focus on China’s dominance, US reshoring policies, and the EU’s de-risking agenda.
  • Assess the role of producer states in the Global South, including resource nationalism, governance challenges, and shifting power dynamics.
  • Apply scenario-based thinking to identify risks for Europe and develop strategic responses for governments, firms, and diplomatic actors.
  • Translate analytical insights into actionable recommendations for policy and industry, enhancing strategic autonomy and resilience.

09:00 – 09:30 | Opening & Orientation

9:30 – 10:30 | Module 1 – Strategic Importance of Rare Earths & Critical Materials

Content:

  • What rare earths are; why they matter for defence, AI, renewables, digitalisation
  • Structural vulnerabilities in extraction, processing, and refining
  • Why supply chains are geopolitical assets

Key Takeaways:

  • Identify the core minerals essential to the green and digital transitions
  • Understand structural vulnerabilites in global supply chains

Skills Taught:

  • Mapping material dependencies and identifying strategic chokepoints

10:30 – 10:45 | Break

10:45 – 11:45 | Module 2 – China’s Dominance: Geoeconomic Leverage & Strategic Dependencies – between myth and reality

Content:

  • China’s near-monopoly on refining and processing
  • Case studies: 2010 Japan rare-earth coercion; 2023 export controls (on gallium, germanium)
  • China’s industrial policy, BRI mining influence
  • China’s use of minerals in broader geoeconomic strategy (deterrence, coercion)

Key Takeaways:

  • Understanding how material dominance becomes geopolitical leverage
  • Recognising coercive economic statecraft through supply chains

Skill Taught:

  • Analysing geoeconomic instruments and state leverage

12:30 – 13:15 | Lunch Break

13:15 – 14:15 | Module 3 – US & EU Responses: De-Risking, Industrial Security & Strategic Autonomy

Content:

  • US: Inflation Reduction Act, DoD funding, reshoring
  • EU: Critical Raw Materials Act and de-risking strategy
  • Comparative assessment: strengths, blind spots, feasibility
  • Limits of diversification: environmental, political, financial constraints

Key Takeaways:

  • Ability to compare US and EU strategic tools
  • Understanding why “strategic autonomy” in minerals is difficult

Skills Taught:

  • Policy comparison & vulnerability assessment

14:15 – 14:30 | Break

14:30 – 15:30 | Module 4 – Practical Module: Crisis Scenario

China announces a sudden export ban on two categories of critical minerals following an EU decision on security screening.

OR

A conflict in the South China Sea disrupts global supply chains – impacting meaningfully the EU’s green transition strategy.

Content:

  • Europe’s dependency map: what comes from where?
  • Identifying EU chokepoints (processing, refining, component manufacturing)

Participants could represent: an EU diplomatic unit, a national security council, an industrial consortium, a European tech company exposed to minerals supply.

Main tasks: identify vulnerabilities, short-term risk mitigation, long-term strategic recommendations, 3-minute crisis briefing (external communication).

Key Takeaways:

  • Experience real-world decision constraints
  • Translate analysis into actionable policy recommendations

Skill: Taught:

  • Scenario-building and crisis-impact mapping
  • Crisis decision-making under uncertainty
  • Strategic communication

15:30 – 16:00 | Coffee Break

16:00 – 17:00 | Closing Module – Action Mapping

Materials Provided

  • Executive Handbook: Core Concepts in Geopolitics of East Asia, including relevant articles, policy analyses, and maps.
  • REFLECTIONS – oiip Magazine
  • Curated Source List: Intelligence, think tanks, media, and academic resources.

Sign up