THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026 79 far too elegant for the harsh conditions in DRC’s informal, and largely illegal, mining sector. The life of one central character in the book, Odilon Kajumba Kilanga, is an evocative tale in which men mining copper and cobalt suffer poverty and illness, with few options for a better future. Niarchos likewise tells compelling stories of the brilliant scientists, primarily in the United States and Japan, who developed the technology for today’s EV batteries. Though passable, the analysis of the economics of the global auto market is less robust. For instance, he details the surprisingly humble origins of Chinese auto giant BYD but does not address how the global proliferation of low-cost Chinese EVs might undercut U.S. automakers, regardless of how successful the United States is in securing its own battery supply chains. Similarly, though the book is otherwise well sourced, Niarchos at one point asserts: “When all emissions were taken together, Tesla cars were more polluting than hybrid vehicles.” He offers no citation, and he doesn’t follow through on what that might mean for supply chains. These weaknesses aside, Niarchos’ analysis of how China came to dominate the supply chains for today’s technologies provides important lessons for the United States. He looks at U.S. and Japanese innovators’ decisions to cede their battery technology to China. He draws out early signs, obvious only in retrospect, of Chinese intent to dominate the industry and to not play by the rules. Important Lessons Niarchos examines China’s presence in the DRC economy as part of its geopolitical strategy dating back to the 1960s, citing a 1972 CIA report that notes: “Peking loses no opportunity to establish the image of China as a champion of third world—hence, African—interests against those of the two superpowers.” He cites examples where the United States lost focus on Africa and missed out on opportunities in the country’s critical minerals sector and how China, “with a greater appetite for risk and a longerterm vision about the continent, ran with the ball.” In another pointed criticism of U.S. policy, Niarchos cites a U.S. researcher discussing Chinese investment in Indonesia’s nickel mining industry who tells him that China is “the only game in town.” The researcher adds: “It’s like the U.S. talks about that a lot, but we haven’t really offered up an alternative.” And he cites Beijing’s focused high-level diplomacy with African leaders outpacing that of the United States and the European Union. In 2025 and 2026, the State Department took action to target the weaknesses the book highlights. It created the Office of Energy Supply Chains and an Office of Critical Minerals charged with advancing the State Department’s Critical Minerals Strategy. Secretary Marco Rubio hosted 55 delegations for the first-ever Critical Minerals Ministerial. The December 2025 U.S.-DRC Strategy Partnership Agreement is designed to attract U.S. investment into the DRC’s critical minerals sector, improve govNiarchos encourages the reader to consider the hard reality that in economics and geopolitics, fixing one problem often creates another. ernance and transparency, and reduce dependence on Chinese-controlled supply chains. Niarchos provides insights into potential challenges and opportunities in these realms. In the end, Niarchos drives home a fact Foreign Service officers understand well: The more you seek to untangle the longstanding personal, political, and business connections in a foreign country, the more complicated the picture becomes. He doesn’t claim to have easy answers, but his book provides ideas for how we might use our new structure and tools to expand America’s access to critical minerals. n Lynette Behnke recently completed an MA in national security strategy at the National War College and will be political counselor at U.S. Embassy Berlin starting in 2027. A career Foreign Service officer since 2006, she has served overseas in Kyiv, London, Budapest, and Port-au-Prince. In Washington, she has worked in the East Asia and the Pacific and European bureaus, as well as at the National Security Council and the Office of the Vice President. She is co-chair of the FSJ Editorial Board. The views expressed here are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the policies or positions of the U.S. State Department or the U.S. government.
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