Supply chains around the world seem increasingly vulnerable, and governments are seeking strategies to make them more resilient to both political and market challenges. Critical mineral supply chains are at the forefront of many of these efforts. Critical minerals like rare earths, lithium, and cobalt are essential for the gadgets that make our modern life possible and for the technologies central to the transition away from fossil fuels. This talk compares the approaches and policies for “economic security” and “economic resiliency” in China, Japan, and the United States and applies it to rare earths and other critical minerals. Kristin Vekasi will compare critical mineral policies in the world’s three largest economies, and assesses the path forward towards more resilient supply chain governance.

Kristin Vekasi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and School of Policy and International Affairs at the University of Maine. Her research focuses on trade and investment strategies in changing geopolitical environments, and the political risk management of supply chains. She specializes in Northeast Asia, and has spent years conducting research in China, Japan, and South Korea. Her book Risk Management Strategies of Japanese Companies in China (Routledge 2019) explores how Japanese multinational corporations mitigate political risk in China. Her current research examines how Japan, China, and the United States cooperate and compete to manage complex supply chains in Southeast Asia, focusing on industries essential for the transition to green energy.

Vekasi received her PhD in political science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Prior to joining the faculty at University of Maine, she taught at New College of Florida, was a visiting Research Fellow at the University of Tokyo and a Fulbright Fellow at Tohoku University. She is a member of the Mansfield Foundation’s US-Japan Network for the Future, and a 2019 National Asia Research Program Fellow with the National Bureau of Asian Research where she is also a nonresident fellow. In 2021-2022, she was an academic associate at the Harvard University US-Japan Program.

For a link to the Zoom event to watch from home, please email elewis@rocklandmaine.gov by 4 p.m. on October 6 and identify the event you are interested in attending in the subject line. This program will be recorded and archived to the library’s YouTube channel and the Camden Conference website after the event.

For information on the 36th Annual Camden Conference: Global Trade and Politics: Managing Turbulence, February 17-19, 2023 please visit our website camdenconference.org

The mission of the Camden Conference is to foster informed discourse on world issues.

This event will take place exclusively in-person, in the library’s Community Room. Seating will be limited and is first-come, first served. This program will be recorded and archived to the library’s YouTube channel and the Camden Conference website after the event. FMI, email elewis@rocklandmaine.gov.