The conflict in Myanmar is the world’s longest ongoing civil war.
The Kachin state also happens to contain one of the largest deposits of rare earths in the world. It ranks as the third highest extractor of rare earths despite being an ongoing conflict zone.
Yet the geopolitics in this situation are enormously favorable to the United States. The Kachinese want their independence and almost universally hate China. Chinese strip mining of their resources is creating an ecological disaster while less than one percent of the market value stays in Kachin state. Not only do the majority of the Kachinese harbor animosity towards China, but as a result of their historical engagement with the Americans of Detachment 101 in World War II, they retain a highly positive attitude towards the United States.
Dr. Chris Mason and I team up on this article in National Interest to propose a radically innovative U.S. foreign policy in Myanmar.
You can read it here.
#myanmar #rare-earths #china #india #resistance
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