By Daniel McGroarty, TES GeoPolicy Editor In the great U.S.-China decoupling, the U.S. picked up a key ally this week, with the UK’s announcement that it would reverse itself and ban Huawei’s 5G network, just in time for the U.S. to slap travel sanctions on Huawei employees. The implication is clear: the U.S. […]
Author: GeoPolicy
Beyond the Rare Earths: Resource Security in the Post-COVID Context
By Sandra Wirtz, American Resources Policy Network “Everything is different.” It’s the constant refrain in these COVID times. But the comment cuts both ways — not just how we cope with differences imposed on us, but differences we embrace, to make ourselves and our society more resilient in the face of sudden shocks, or […]
Reaugh: Now that the World Has Stopped… A Strategic Metal Can Help Us Start It Again
By Larry Reaugh, CEO, American Manganese “You cannot make steel without manganese. And if you cannot make steel – the world stops.” That’s the glass of cold-water quote from former BHP Billiton CEO Brian Gilbertson, more than a decade ago as the world toppled into the finance-driven 2008-09 Great Recession. Fast forward to […]
Red Tape Helps China, Hurts Critical U.S. Super-Conductor Chip Manufacturing
By Daniel McGroarty, TES GeoPolicy Editor Let the Great Re-Shoring begin: One of the many ways the COVID pandemic will change the behavior of nations is coming into view, with profound implications for the globalization of trade, and where we make what we buy. With China controlling the chokepoint on medical devices from […]
RED SWAN: The Story of a Secret Cable and the Crisis We Could Have Seen Coming
By Daniel McGroarty, TES GeoPolicy Editor COVID-19: It’s all we talk about, on the cable news, and in our 6-foot socially-distanced prison walks around our silent neighborhoods. And in nearly every conversation comes the intellectual shrug, “who could have seen this coming?” A single phrase that neatly absolves governments and experts alike of […]
Copper Beats Corona: A New, Old Weapon Against Viruses
By Daniel McGroarty, GeoPolicy Editor Imagine a door handle that can attack the COVID-19 virus on a molecular level, destroying it within a few hours. Imagine a mask that can capture and kill COVID droplets. Imagine pillowcases and hospital gowns that destroy pathogens instead of spreading them. These ideas may sound like science fiction, […]
Oil War Aims At U.S. Fracking
By Daniel McGroarty, TES GeoPolicy Editor APRIL 14, 2020 UPDATE: In one of the few non-COVID news stories still commanding attention, global economy watchers are focused on an Easter agreement brokered by Saudi Arabia that aims at global oil production cuts of at least 10%. The catch: the cuts won’t come immediately, but in May. […]
Coronavirus, Butter and Oil: As We Brace for Pandemic, We Also Need to Inoculate Ourselves Against Group-Think
Daniel McGroarty, TES GeoPolicy Editor As the world wakes each morning to new numbers mapping the Coronavirus’ spread, along comes a piece by Andrew Butter provocatively titled, “What China Knows About the Coronavirus that Oil Traders Don’t Know.” Read it in full at SeekingAlpha. Butter watches global oil markets, and he’s noticed […]
Of GPS and Ghost Ships: A Cautionary Tale from the Internet of Things
Of GPS and Ghost Ships: A Cautionary Tale from the Internet of Things By Daniel McGroarty, TES GeoPolicy Editor Call it a sign of our 21st Century times: Have you noticed how often the “News of the Weird” intersects the mundane world we live in, or strive mightily to? A new […]
A Very Wary Christmas: Don’t Take DNA Tests, Pentagon Warns Troops
By Daniel McGroarty, TES GeoPolicy Editor We’re used to government agencies warning about dangerous children’s toys at the holiday season, but since when does the Pentagon warn active duty troops about what may be in their Christmas stockings? That’s happening this year, according to NBC News, which reports based on a memo from […]