Cosmopolitics by Elise Labott

Cosmopolitics by Elise Labott

The new Cold War is made of rocks

Rare earths and critical minerals are now a full-spectrum instrument of national power

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Elise Labott
Aug 04, 2026
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Strategists have a shorthand for the instruments a state uses to compete and coordinate abroad - diplomatic, information, military and economic power, or DIME. It’s a framework built for embassies, broadcasts, battalions and trade - the same one that, as I’ve recently written, now applies almost line for line to the space economy. Turns out it applies j…

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