Episode
The US Military's Critical Minerals Challenge
- Podcast
- Modern War Institute
- Published
- Jul 26, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 3526
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/modern-war-institute-433892/episodes/the-us-military-s-critical-minerals-challenge/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/modern-war-institute-433892/the-us-military-s-critical-minerals-challenge.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
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.