G7 Takes Aim at China’s Grip on Critical Minerals
by Tsvetana Paraskova on June 20, 2026 at 11:00 pm
The leaders of the G7 have created a strategic alliance on critical minerals in a coordinated effort to break China’s oversized control of the metals and minerals and rare earth elements crucial to the defense, automotive, and clean energy industries. At the G7 summit in Evian, France, the leaders of G7 issued a declaration in which the nations committed “to coordinating efforts within the G7 and with partner countries to establish and develop the necessary processing and industrial capacities for diversification of our critical minerals…
Energy Security, Not Climate Goals, Is Now Driving the Clean Power Boom
by Haley Zaremba on June 20, 2026 at 9:00 pm
While ships are beginning to trickle through the Strait of Hormuz after months of near-total closure, it will be a very long time before the effects of this year’s energy crisis fade from the global economy – if they ever do. This latest round of turmoil in global oil and gas markets has catalyzed clean energy adoption to a degree that may permanently alter the global energy landscape, as well as the way that we conceive of energy security and geopolitical strategy. It is extremely telling that, against the backdrop of the United States…
Iraq Is Keeping Its Syria Oil Route—Even If Hormuz Reopens
by Julianne Geiger on June 20, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Nobody, especially not Iraq, wants to be caught relying on Hormuz ever again. Iraq is preparing to export crude oil and naphtha through Syria’s Mediterranean port of Baniyas, expanding an emergency workaround that emerged after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted the country’s primary export routes and left storage tanks filling up. According to Reuters, Iraqi officials say the strategy will remain in place even after shipping through Hormuz returns to normal. That alone says plenty. Iraq normally exports around 3.6 million barrels of…
China Is Taking Its AI Boom Under the Sea
by Felicity Bradstock on June 20, 2026 at 7:00 pm
The data centre industry has taken off in the last few years, as tech companies look to develop the massive computing power needed to run complex operations, such as artificial intelligence. Thousands of data centres are being developed on land, but now, some countries are looking to establish innovative models in alternative locations, such as underwater. In May, China launched the world’s first wind-powered underwater data centre off the coast of Shanghai, with an investment of around $238 million. The 24 MW-capacity Shanghai Lingang undersea…
Why Small Modular Reactors Are Becoming a National Security Priority
by James Durso on June 20, 2026 at 5:00 pm
For decades, energy policy in Washington was debated on the basis of economics, climate change, and domestic politics. That era is over. The United States is entering a period where energy security must be recognized as a core pillar of national security and military readiness. The global competition underway with China is not just about trade or tariffs. It is about industrial capacity, technological dominance, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductor manufacturing, and defense production – all of which depend on a foundational requirement:…