US foreign policy 'driven by critical minerals, not oil'

FORMER South African ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool, who was expelled from Washington in March after accusing US President Donald ‘Trump of promoting white supremacy, has warned that a new global conflict is under way, not over oil, but over critical minerals.

- SIMON MAJADIBODU

Speaking at a Jumw’ah lecture at Masjidul Quds Institute in Cape Town recently, Rasool said: “Let me give you an example... the United States has identified 50 critical minerals for its immediate future if it is going to remain the leader and not cede leadership to China in the tech revolution. Of the 50, they are 100% dependent on other countries for 12.

“They are more than 50% dependent for 29 of those 50 minerals. And they are dependent on China for 13 of those. And China has captured 90% of the processing market for all of that.”

Rasool tied the US response to this dependency to what he described as a militarised, resource-driven foreign policy.

“It’s not that Donald Trump is suddenly waking up and saying, I hate the Chinese because of this, that, and the other. It is because the tech robber barons have told him: You've got to go to war.”

He pointed to South Africa’s military involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo as proof of its role in defending the continent's mineral wealth.