US-CHINA GEOPOLITICAL COMPETITION OVER LITHIUM RESOURCES: IMPACTS AND OUTCOMES FOR PAKISTAN’S ENERGY SECURITY
Abstract
Lithium is acritical resource that is mostly employed in re-chargeable batteries in electronic items systems such as notebooks, hybrids, and cellular telephones. The Lithium-ion battery market over the years has been growing Sino-Levfong 2013 relations now. In 2018, lithium was classified as critical to national interests and economic activities in the United States while in 2020, it was declared critical with regards to raw material in the European Union. All these factors including the globalization of the created market put more emphasis on lithium. As a result of these transition, there has been an increase in the rivalry between the United States and China over lithium resources thereby complicating the energy security landscape in Asia. This contest is realigning the geopolitical landscape of the regions particularly Asia where countries like India and Pakistan has to carefully maneuver its respective strategic cooperation. The paper aims to examine the impacts and outcomes for Pakistan’s energy security. It involves literature review and policy analysis betwixt geopolitical competitors on lithium production, processing, pricing and trade and investment patterns to explore inter-relationship among global competitors and investment priorities of Pakistan.
Keywords: Renewable Energy, Lithium Geopolitics, US-China Competition, Energy Security