China and the geopolitics of rare earths

China and the geopolitics of rare earths is an important and timely analysis of China's monopoly on rare earth minerals and the 2010 rare-earth crisis. Kalantzakos presents a thorough analysis of the rare-earth crisis and explains how the events that elevated the crisis to global significance are open to different interpretations. For example, she explains that ‘while some analysts and policymakers securitized the problem and raised a battle cry to stop an aggressive China’ (p. 8), others held that there was no need for alarm as the market would find solutions for disputes over resources and trade. Kalantzakos begins with an overview of the general theoretical debate on the scarcity of and competition over minerals and resources, and highlights their impact on international affairs. For example, she outlines two differing paradigms—the ‘fixed-stock paradigm’ and the ‘opportunity-cost paradigm’—which highlight two understandings of the physical scarcity of minerals. The former assumes that mineral supplies are finite and thus exhaustible and that, therefore, while technological developments and increasing prices have led to new discoveries, continued mineral extraction will ultimately lead to mineral scarcity. In contrast, the latter holds that the use of mineral resources does not exhaust their stock, as they can be reused and recycled, depending on price. Furthermore, according to this paradigm, lack of mineral availability results in further exploration and yields new technology.