David Lewis
Senior Political Counsellor
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
David Lewis OBE is Senior Political Counsellor at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), covering the countries of Central Asia and Mongolia. He has published widely on international affairs, with a focus on the politics and international relations of Russia and Eurasia. He is also a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London and Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the University of Exeter.
New Trends in the Geopolitics of Critical Minerals: Implications for Central Asia
Geopolitical rivalry has elevated natural resources and mining to the centre of global competition, with the supply of critical minerals increasingly tied to questions of sovereignty, security, and strategic influence. Central Asia’s resource wealth makes it a potentially key player in critical minerals, but its geographic position also creates a complex mix of geopolitical opportunities and vulnerabilities. This presentation assesses how global and regional geopolitical trends are reshaping the prospects for development of critical minerals in the region -- from regulatory and political risks to the geopolitical aspects of logistics, processing and refining -- and discusses ways in which geopolitical challenges may be mitigated.
