The US Military's Critical Minerals Challenge

Modern War Institute

John Amble

Government, News

4.7 • 798 Ratings

🗓️ 26 July 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The US government established the National Defense Stockpile in 1939 to ensure that in the event of a major conflict, there would be enough raw materials on hand to continue production of vital equipment. Since the end of the Cold War, it has steadily shrunk, now just a tiny fraction of its peak size. Moreover, while its original purpose was stockpiling materials like steel and rubber, US military systems are now dependent on a wider range of both raw materials and finished products—like rare earth minerals and the magnets that require them. And the supply chains for these items are, in some cases, controlled heavily by China. What should US policymakers do to reduce this vulnerability? That’s the subject of this episode, featuring a discussion with Dr. Morgan Bazilian, director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines. The MWI Podcast is produced with the generous support of the West Point Class of 1974.

Transcript

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0:00.0	China dominates where Earths, why are we putting this stuff in a boat to send it to China to make it for us?
0:17.0	So the narrative has always been fairly strong from a security perspective.
0:22.6	Today that stockpile isn't sufficient to support the military in a major conflict.
0:30.6	And it basically targets enough inventories for a one-year conflict with China based on various war games and
0:38.0	scenarios. We are battling China. This is not only a pacing threat for the military, but a
0:47.0	commercial threat for the country. Hey, welcome back to the MWI podcast, brought to you with the generous support to the West Point Class of 1974.
0:57.8	I'm John Amble, and on this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Morgan Bazillion.
1:01.8	He is the director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines,
1:06.4	and much of his work really sits at the intersection of national defense policy and natural resources.
1:13.2	So if we want to talk about critical minerals and their importance to the defense industrial base,
1:17.7	or about Chinese control over much of the world's rare earth mineral supply chains,
1:22.1	or why certain elements are essential to building F-35 fighter aircraft, for example.
1:27.7	Morgan is the perfect person to have that discussion with, and it's the discussion that you'll
1:32.1	hear on this episode.
1:33.5	Before we get to it, as always, a couple quick notes.
1:36.5	First, a very special thank you to the West Point class of 1974 for their generous support
1:41.4	to MWI.
1:42.6	And second, as always, what you're here in this episode are the views of participants
1:46.1	and don't represent those of West Point, the Army, or any other agency of the U.S. government.
1:51.4	All right, here's my conversation with Dr. Morgan Bazillion. Morgan, thank you so much for joining me on this episode of the MWI podcast.
2:09.3	Yeah, my pleasure. Thanks for having me.
2:11.7	So you are the director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines,
	...

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