Image: Guard post at an old Gulag camp, Russia

Due to long-term strategic errors, the United States and Western Europe have become dependent upon malign state actors including China and Russia. These dependencies pose major security vulnerabilities. Some examples include:

1. 90% of the world’s rare earth elements - a group of 17 metals used in computers, smartphones, clean energy, and defense technologies – are processed and 60% are produced in China. China banned export of rare earth extraction and separation technologies in December 2023. The US and Australia have large deposits of rare earth metals, but they are largely undeveloped due to cost and environmental restrictions.

2. Taiwan produces over 90% of the world’s advanced semiconductors which are used in smartphones, computers, and technology used for business, consumer, and defense applications. Chinese threats to annex Taiwan are not only about supposed national “unification,” but would give China near-monopoly control of advanced computer components utilized worldwide.

3. Rocketry. In the name of “cooperation,” the US paid Russia over $4 billion to transport US astronauts to the International Space Station.  This occurred due to retiring the US Space Shuttle Fleet with no alternative means. Western funds have been used to develop Russian missile technology. The US continues to allow Russia access to the International Space Station built with US and European funds and technology even as Russia and China threaten nuclear escalation and build weapons to destroy Western satellites.

4. The US imports about $1 billion of uranium from Russia annually. Uranium is needed for defense and nuclear energy technologies. In 2013, The Obama Administration authorized the sale of some US uranium mines to Russia after Russian donations to the Clinton Foundation. In May 2024, the Biden Administration announced a pending ban on Russian uranium, but with waivers allowing continued imports.

5. Energy. The US has eased or declined to enforce sanctions against oil export by Iran, Venezuela, and Russia.The continued energy dependence of the West on totalitarian states, including Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia, reflects the failure of Germany and other European nations to build economic, safe and clean nuclear power plants. Many of the eco-extremist groups working to shut down nuclear energy and oil, gas and mineral extraction in the West have received funds from Russia’s Gazprom and other foreign actors and/or are ideologically sympathetic. Misguided Western energy policy has been cited as a key enabler of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

6. Trade. China was granted “most favored nation” trading status in 1980 which was continued despite the Tiananmen Square massacre and pervasive violations of international law. It was made permanent by the US Congress in 2000 under the Clinton Administration. This facilitated massive technology transfer to Communist China and the flight of industry and manufacturing overseas. For years, China has supplied 70-80% of the merchandise of Walmart, the United States’ largest consumer retailer.  On Amazon, the largest US online retailer, an estimated 70% of products are sourced to China.

These strategic errors reflect the short-term thinking of Western politicians centered only on the next election without regard to long-term national security and sustainability.  Russian and China have been working for years to insulate their economies and military from real or potential Western sanctions. Western nations remain highly dependent on totalitarian states and have not seriously addressed critical vulnerabilities.

These vulnerabilities are rarely acknowledged or discussed in the Western media, and public awareness remains low. Western politicians have continued to claim that the US is the world’s “only superpower,” yet have been unable to deter small groups such as the Houthis disrupting global shipping in the Red Sea to say nothing of major geopolitical adversaries. 

For the sake of national defense and economic security, the US and the European Union should work diligently to become independent of resources from geopolitical adversaries.  The only reason this has not already happened long ago, or why current dependencies were allowed to develop, is a lack of political will and understanding.  We are living in an age of delusion.