Highlights

• A peer-reviewed study highlights the critical geopolitical risks involving rare earth elements.
• China controls 97% of global rare earth elements production.
• Rare earth elements are essential for advanced technologies such as:
  • Electric vehicles
  • Missile systems
  • Wind turbines
• The supply chain of rare earth elements is a national security issue.
• The research advocates for a comprehensive industrial strategy to:
  • Develop resilient, sovereign rare earth production
  • Reduce global dependencies

A new peer-reviewed analysis published in IEEE Reliability Magazine (Vol. 2, Issue 2, June 2025) by author Phil Laplante (opens in a new tab), a consultant and a professor emeritus of software andsystems engineering at The Pennsylvania State University, State College,PA, presents a hard-hitting and unflinching diagnosis of the geopolitical and technical challenges posed by rare earth elements (REEs). The paper, titled “Rare Earth Elements: Earth’s Infinity Stones (opens in a new tab),” explores the essential—but dangerously fragile—role REEs play in defense, clean energy, electronics, and system reliability. From neodymium in permanent magnets to gadolinium in nuclear reactors, REEs are the hidden scaffolding of modern civilization. But as the paper makes clear, the systems we depend on are only as reliable as the global supply chains behind them—supply chains that China still controls.

Laplante maps the daunting terrain: rare earths are chemically complex, environmentally destructive to extract, and concentrated in regions that are hostile or unstable. China currently controls 97% of REE global production, anchored by vast deposits in Inner Mongolia and Sichuan, and no other country comes close. U.S. efforts to reshore production are hindered by high barriers to entry, toxic waste byproducts, and a lack of refining capacity. Recycling remains technically possible but is commercially and environmentally problematic, and years away from being scaled up.

As the author writes, REEs are “the Infinity Stones of the industrial world”—whoever controls them holds global leverage.

The study’s insights go deeper. REEs are not just inputs—they are reliability enablers.

Their magnetic, thermal, and conductive stability under extreme conditions is what makes electric vehicles, missile guidance systems, wind turbines, and aerospace electronics durable and dependable. However, this also means that any disruption in REE access can trigger cascading failures across the defense, energy, and technology industries. Michael Rosenthal, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of MP Materials, the leading company in North America for mining rare earth ores, draws a clear conclusion: if the U.S. and its allies cannot secure a resilient supply of REEs, their technological edge and industrial independence are at risk.

Yet the path forward is not easy. The study acknowledges that cleaner, more cost-effective alternatives to current extraction and recycling practices do not yet exist on a large scale. Strategic reserves, mining reform, and material innovation are necessary, but insufficient without direct public-private investment and geopolitical coordination. The authors call for an industrial strategy that treats REEs as critical infrastructure: resilient, sovereign, and shielded from political manipulation.

For U.S. and Western policymakers, this paper is both a reality check and a call to action. If resilience and reliability are national priorities, rare earth independence must be a priority as well. As the MP Materials co-founder and chief operating officer declares:

“There’s pretty much nothing straightforward about the rare earths industry… and it’s now pivotal to some of the largest and fastest-growing industries aimed at mitigating climate change.” In other words: if the West can’t build a reliable rare earth ecosystem, it won’t build a reliable future at all.”