14 Articles
👁 A white U.S. Coast Guard cutter with a broad red stripe and a thin blue stripe running diagonally across its hull at the bow and featuring towers and nests of equipment aboard transits in front of a tall cliff and a glacier at the base of the cliff, with more mountains in the background.
The Trump Administration Is Sabotaging Its Own Arctic Strategy
The Trump administration’s own Defense Department policies are undermining the operational means necessary to execute its Arctic strategy.
Apr. 1, 2026
Michael Schiffer
👁 Miners work along unstable slopes of a ridge
Getting Critical Minerals Certification and Due Diligence Right In the DRC-Rwanda Accord and Beyond (With a Lesson from a Punk Band?)
A concentration on decision-making, investment, and accountability will lead to a more impactful DRC-Rwanda minerals agreement and improve others as well.
Jan. 21, 2026
Brad Brooks-Rubin
👁 A statue of U.S. President Harry S. Truman stands in the Capitol Rotunda on September 29, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Crisis as Catalyst: Seabed Minerals and the (Un)Making of International Law
Will President Trump, as President Truman did during the WWII era, succeed in refashioning the law governing international seabed minerals?
Nov. 24, 2025
Coalter Lathrop
👁 Concept image of deep underwater ocean exploration with submarine or rov. (via Getty Images)
The Rulemakers of Deep-Sea Mining: How the U.S. and China Are Competing Beyond Minerals
In the race for critical minerals, those who control the legal and regulatory frameworks will shape who has access and which values define the future of resource extraction.
Oct. 28, 2025
Alexandria Virginski
👁 Visualization of the U.S.-China tech competition
Export Controls and U.S. Trade Policy: Making Sense of the New Terrain
The Trump administration's use of export controls as leverage in trade diplomacy creates risks for key U.S. national security interests.
Oct. 14, 2025
Geoffrey Gertz and Thomas Krueger
👁 (L-R) US Vice President JD Vance, US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio listen as Democratic Republic of the Congo Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner during a meeting with her and Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe (not pictured) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 27, 2025. Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed an agreement in Washington on Friday to put an end to a conflict in the eastern DRC that has killed thousands, although broad questions loom on what it will mean. Trump has trumpeted the diplomacy that led to the deal and publicly complained that he has not received a Nobel Peace Prize. But the agreement has also come under scrutiny for its vagueness including on the economic component, with the Trump administration eager to compete with China and profit from abundant mineral wealth in the long-turbulent east of the vast DRC. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Sanctions Removal on Mining Magnate Would Set Back Peace and Investment in DR Congo
The Trump administration and Congress can end the cycle of looting, smuggling, and violent extraction of raw materials from the DRC and provide a better footing for peace.
Oct. 8, 2025
John Prendergast and Sasha Lezhnev
👁 Aerial picture of dredges at an illegal gold mining area in the Madre de Dios department, in Peru's southeastern Amazon region, on May 31, 2024. Illegal exploitation is ruthless, despite law enforcement prosecution in Madre de Dios, in southeastern Peru. (Photo by ERNESTO BENAVIDES/AFP via Getty Images)
Transparency for Minerals is Essential, and No One Can Go It Alone
Despite efforts for transparency, the minerals trade still fuels conflict and corruption; only joint action and accountability can ensure resources benefit communities.
May 2, 2025
Brad Brooks-Rubin
👁 U.S. President Donald Trump (C) and Vice President JD Vance meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House on February 28, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Negotiations at Gunpoint: Does U.S. Pressure on Ukraine for a Minerals Deal Amount to Unlawfully Procuring a Treaty by Use of Force?
Coercion leveraged by the U.S. to secure Ukrainian mineral resources could be deemed use of force, rendering any resulting treaty void.
Apr. 17, 2025
Jeremy Pizzi and Maksym Vishchyk
👁 A M23 soldier stands at the Coltan mining pits in Rubaya on March 5, 2025. He holds a gun. Many people seen in the background.
A Way Out of the DRC’s Proxy War
Today, ribs of gold and other essential treasures are a major driver of one of the deadliest conflicts in the world.
Mar. 28, 2025
Sasha Lezhnev and John Prendergast
👁 Oil field with rigs and pumps at sunset. World Oil Industry
What Just Happened: Trump’s Executive Actions on Environment and Implications for US Climate Security
New executive orders create U.S. and global security risks in the face of climate change, which the Trump administration and Congress would be wise to mitigate.
Jan. 24, 2025
Tom Ellison
👁 The photo shows two men, cropped to only their waists, one of them holding a gold bar between his hands.
Beyond ‘Critical’ Minerals, Don’t Forget Gold’s Role as a Driver of Economic Growth — and Conflict
The UAE has begun to take corrective steps to rein in illicit gold trade. The incoming Trump administration could find lessons there.
Jan. 9, 2025
Brad Brooks-Rubin
👁 A large crowd stands in the middle of what appears to be an elevated highway as a protest, with the skyline of a city in the ground.
A Modern Rush for ‘Green Deal’ Minerals Challenges Troubled Governance in the Western Balkans
Increased mining investment in the Western Balkans can either support crucial political and economic reforms, or further reward illiberal regimes.
Jun. 25, 2024
Valery Perry