US, UAE Discover Critical Minerals Are Strategic—Shocking!
The United States and the United Arab Emirates are joining forces in a $1.8 billion critical mineral venture, a move Al-Monitor breathlessly frames as vital for 'global supply chains' and countering China. This comes just as Gulf states are 'eyeing major roles' in this sector. One might wonder if this sudden strategic interest in resource diversification extends to, say, not selling advanced
weaponry to regimes that are demonstrably using them on civilians, or funding proxy wars in Yemen and Sudan. Apparently not, as long as the critical minerals keep flowing and Beijing doesn't get there first. This isn't about 'global supply chains' so much as it is about maintaining geopolitical leverage in a region where US-backed monarchies still conveniently control vast resources. The concern
over 'Gulf rivalry' seems less about genuine regional stability and more about ensuring that the US corporate-military complex has primary access to these 'critical minerals.' It's almost as if the U.S. has a long-standing pattern of prioritizing resource access and strategic alliances over, say, promoting actual democratic governance or human rights in the very nations it partners with. How many
trillions in arms sales does it take to secure critical minerals from a region before the 'rivalry' becomes 'business as usual'?