Wars in the 21st century are fought over ports, refineries and logistics networks

The problem is that Europe, including Italia, is facing this challenge from a position of great vulnerability. Dependence on China affects numerous strategic sectors: rare earths, permanent magnets, graphite, gallium, germanium, tungsten, antimony and many other raw materials essential for radar, missiles, munitions, satellite systems, military electronics and dual-use technologies. In recent years, Beijing has shown that it regards these resources as a tool of foreign policy and strategic competition. Restrictions on the export of critical materials have highlighted how control of supply chains now represents a geopolitical lever no less important than military force. Making the picture even more complex is an often underestimated phenomenon: the progressive militarisation and privatisation of bottlenecks in global supply chains.

In this scenario, the ability to diversify supply channels, build alternative trade relationships and secure a share of production capacity becomes a key element of national resilience. It is true that the European Union has finally grasped the strategic importance of the issue and is stepping up its efforts regarding security reserves. The initiatives set out in the Critical Raw Materials Act and the stockpiling programme represent a step in the right direction. However, building up stocks merely buys time; it does not eliminate structural vulnerability. If Europe continues to depend on other countries for the extraction, refining and processing of critical materials, the strategic risk will remain largely unchanged.

Washington has understood this so well that it has arrived at a very simple conclusion: the gap with China can only be narrowed by overriding market forces. The Pentagon’s creation of a price floor for raw materials—set at double the market price—when entering into supply agreements with national mining companies is proof of this.

Whilst we wait for Brussels to decide to invest seriously in the European supply chain, we cannot sit on the sidelines. It is absolutely essential that the country adopts a national strategy that identifies the priorities to be pursued. With this in mind, mining policy – which forms the cornerstone of a national strategy – cannot be left to individual ministries. The issue of strategic raw materials cuts across areas of responsibility that simultaneously involve Defence, Business and Made in Italy, Economy and Finance, Foreign Affairs, Environment and Energy. No single administration possesses the comprehensive vision required to manage an issue that intertwines geopolitics, international trade, national security, finance and industrial policy.

We therefore need a permanent steering group within the Prime Minister’s Office, equipped with the capacity for inter-ministerial coordination and a clear mandate: to ensure the resilience of strategic Italian and European supply chains. The aim must not be self-sufficiency – a concept incompatible with Italy’s economic structure – but rather the reduction of vulnerabilities through a comprehensive strategy encompassing the geographical diversification of supplies, long-term agreements, strategic stockpiles, support for industrial investment and the development of recycling capabilities, also involving other European and non-European partners with whom certain objectives are shared.

The global competition that is taking shape is not merely about the availability of weapons. It is about control over the resources needed to produce them. Indeed, the wars of the 21st century are fought long before they reach the battlefield – in mines, ports, refineries, metallurgical plants and logistics networks.

If Europe intends to take greater responsibility for its own security, and if Italia wishes to maintain the competitiveness of its industrial base, the resilience of supply chains must become a national priority. Raw materials are no longer merely an industrial issue; they have become a strategic component of national security.

Gianclaudio Torlizzi is the founder of T-Commodity and an adviser to the Minister of Defence