Policy on Critical Raw Materials as Part of the Security Strategy – the Current State of Play and the Challenges Ahead

Abstract

Contemporary global challenges, defined as megatrends, represent a turning point for countries and international organisations. Security is the common denominator of all these processes, so the contemporary meaning of this category must be acknowledged and redefined. Technological challenges that have emerged since the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, including the effects of energy and digital transformation, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, dual-use technologies and artificial intelligence, mean that the technological dimension is one of the pillars of today’s security. This is most clearly evident in the concept of strategic autonomy, which is intrinsically linked to security and assurance for international organisations, states, businesses and citizens. Technological processes, in turn, depend heavily on raw materials, which are key components of most technological goods, ranging from semiconductors to quantum computers and composites. The recent attempt by the US in 2024 to make its continued support for Ukraine conditional on the Ukrainian government consenting to the exploitation of that country’s rare earth elements (e.g. lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, erbium, lithium, beryllium, uranium, zirconium, tantalum and niobium) is a clear demonstration of this. Taking this into account, the authors analyse the evolution of the subjective, objective and procedural scope of the security category, emphasising the importance of critical raw materials in European and Polish terms. An analysis of global conditions indicates that effective security policies and strategies for states and international organisations cannot be shaped without taking technological security into account, which is largely based on raw materials.