The United States has a problem. While American political leaders snipe at each other and the State Department prioritizes LGBT diplomacy across Africa and the world, China has sought to corner the world’s cobalt market.

Most Americans may not think much about cobalt, but the twenty-first-century economy depends upon access to the metal. Nearly all lithium-ion rechargeable batteries require cobalt for their manufacture, and so without cobalt, electric vehicle and computer manufacturing either halts or becomes susceptible to Chinese blackmail.