Posted:
15.08.2024 13:25:55
War over resources
The fight for minerals is escalating around the world
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), over the last 60 years, at least 40 percent of all internal armed conflicts have been linked to the exploitation of natural resources. Over the past two decades alone, blood has been shed 18 times in different parts of the world for this reason. In the backdrop of the intensified conflict between the declining West and the rising star of the East, increasingly more regions of the world are engulfed in flames because of the riches deep in the bowels of the earth.
The President of Belarus,
Aleksandr Lukashenko,
“The carpet bombing of Dresden and atomic bombing of Japan were echoed in Korea, Vietnam, Angola, Nicaragua, Panama, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and Syria. All these are new geopolitical goals due to the redistribution of the markets for oil, gas, rare metals and other minerals. People were killed for those! Western multinational businesses, mainly Anglo-Saxons, have significantly enriched themselves in recent years. This is true. But tell me — have Washington and London become stronger in terms of political reputation and authority in the international arena over the years? No. On the contrary, we see how the global image of once really influential powers is collapsing.”
From a speech at the meeting of the 7th Belarusian People’s Congress, on April 24th, 2024
Aleksandr Lukashenko,
“The carpet bombing of Dresden and atomic bombing of Japan were echoed in Korea, Vietnam, Angola, Nicaragua, Panama, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and Syria. All these are new geopolitical goals due to the redistribution of the markets for oil, gas, rare metals and other minerals. People were killed for those! Western multinational businesses, mainly Anglo-Saxons, have significantly enriched themselves in recent years. This is true. But tell me — have Washington and London become stronger in terms of political reputation and authority in the international arena over the years? No. On the contrary, we see how the global image of once really influential powers is collapsing.”
From a speech at the meeting of the 7th Belarusian People’s Congress, on April 24th, 2024
Looking into the earth’s depths
The largest conflict of our time — the confrontation between the coalition of US-led states and Russia on the territory of Ukraine — has a number of reasons, and not all of them lie in the field of geopolitics. According to pre-war studies, the bowels of Ukraine contain up to five percent of the earth’s mineral resources. The MiningWorld business platform reports that the country possesses significant proven and prospective reserves of non-ferrous and rare earth metals, including unique deposits of beryllium, zirconium, tantalum, as well as a complex of phosphorous rare earth and rare metal ores. Experts pay special attention to the fact that Ukraine has the largest lithium reserves in Europe, as well as considerable amounts of cobalt, nickel and manganese ores.It is not surprising that the resources left after the collapse of the USSR in the unreliable hands of Ukraine’s unconscientious leadership immediately attracted the attention of the West, and especially the EU countries.
Washington, which has embraced the worst features of European civilisation, has also set its eyes on Ukraine, including because of its natural resources. In this regard, the number one issue for the United States is overcoming critical dependence on supplies from China.Last year, the Ukrainian version of the Forbes ranking publication reported that the total value of all Ukrainian underground riches made up about $14 trillion. The ‘wealthiest’ areas on the map that account for over 50 percent of valuable minerals have already slipped out of the Kiev regime’s control, and the remaining ones have more modest reserves — for example, those in Kiev area are estimated at $21 billion.
The 2014 coup d’état in Ukraine initially seemed like a successful American project in terms of access to mineral resources. However, the armed conflict in Donbass followed by the beginning of the special military operation and referendums in Kherson and Zaporozhye have seriously devalued the US investments.
Living in hell
The raider seizure of Ukraine is nothing compared to what the West has done and continues to do in Africa. The most striking case is perhaps the fate of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Even by undemanding African standards, this country is catastrophically unhappy.However, outside the trap of Western colonisers, it could become one of the economic leaders of the continent, since the territory of the DRC is rich in deposits of minerals crucial for modern civilisation — primarily columbite-tantalite (coltan), which is the most important element in the production of modern electronics.
In addition, the DRC supplies 70 percent of the world’s cobalt, while being Africa’s first and the world’s third-largest exporter of copper, as well as boasting significant reserves of gold, diamonds, tin and tungsten.
The Congolese do not receive even a thousandth of the income from the riches extracted from their land. The fact is that many resource rich territories have been captured by forces hostile to Kinshasa, which are covertly directed by global capital.
A particularly fierce battle is being waged for the coltan deposits in the east of the country. Vast territories of several provinces in the DRC have turned into a post-apocalypse zone, where dozens of barbaric gangs fight amidst the jungles and swamps for the interests of neighbouring states that dance to the tune of Western bigwigs.
The proceeds from the sale of the valuable mineral are used to purchase weapons so that field commanders could continue the endless war with the DRC government forces and their allies. While the militants’ leaders, their sponsors and Western companies are quite satisfied with this situation, the Congolese live like in hell and do not have the slightest opportunity to get out of there. The working conditions are horrible — the mineral is mixed with uranium ore, labour protection is out of the question, and the only tools are spades and basins. The mortality rate among prospectors is off the scale, while their babies are often stillborn.
All this is compounded by the endless war of everyone against everyone, which makes the life of the local population unbearable. Mass rapes, ethnic massacres, and murders just for fun have become commonplace. There are no large animals left in the surrounding forests — the fighting armies have eaten all the elephants, giraffes, gorillas and hippos.
They have eyes on lithium
There is another potential minerals-related hotbed of tension that is smoldering in South America. This refers to the territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana over the Essequibo region rich in oil and gas. Large oil and gas fields were found in Essequibo in 2015. Almost immediately, multinational companies like ExxonMobil appeared there and signed concession deals with Guyana to carry out drilling operations in the disputed region. Venezuela’s reaction was predictable since it considers the province its territory illegally taken away by the British, and the involvement of multinational companies in oil extraction — a robbery of the national treasure.
The ability to independently manage minerals on the national territory is an important part of the multipolar world ideology. The fight for mineral resources in the context of global confrontation will continue to escalate. Therefore, the wise management of one’s own resources and the ability to establish a profitable co-operation with other players for the benefit of a common cause will play a critical role in it.
By Anton Popov
