Lithium has been discovered in Afghanistan, in vast quantities. Lithium, mined from brine and clay, is considered the energy resource that will make electric cars cost effective enough to be practical for millions of drivers. Skyrocketing demand for use in cars, phones and computers could make lithium a lot more valuable than oil within the 21st century. Lithium, like many of the world’s oil, is found in regressive, inaccessible nations bearing animosity toward America. Countries like Argentine, Boliva and most lately, Afghanistan, are called “Saudi Arabias of lithium” due to their confirmed mother lodes of the metal.
Lithium – fuel for Afghan corruption
American officials announced the discovery of rich lithium deposits in Afganistan on Monday. The New York Times reports that lithium and major deposits of iron, copper, cobalt and gold worth about $1 trillion exist in Afghanistan. U.S. objectives for the Afganistan war could either be facilitated or debilitated by the presence of the mineral reserves, which exist in quantities far larger than anywhere else known. Afghanistan’s newly found mineral riches could introduce peace to a country where war has defined life for generations. However, adding an Aladdin’s cave of riches to the equation could motivate the Taliban to fight harder for control of the country. Either way, lithium could be a new and irresistible temptation for Afghan corruption.
Lithium and the outcome of the Afghanistan war
Afghanistan lithium, iron, copper, cobalt and gold have the potential to make the country the international focus of mining. But an economy focused on growing opium for narcotics trafficking is devoid of the mining infrastructure necessary to convert Afganistan’s minerals into wealth. Despite the irreplaceable blood and treasure The United States has poured into Afghanistan, China may be better positioned to exploit and control Afghanistan lithium. Blogger Aziz Poonawalla points out that China will compete aggressively with the U.S. for strategic control of Afghanistan’s minerals. Other analysts predict the corrupted Hamid Karzai will hop in bed with China and attempt to oust U.S. forces.
Boliva’s lithium pipe dream
Lithium in Afghanistan is a “man bites dog” story because hundreds of millions of smartphones and laptops could depend on a country full of goats, mud huts and primitive tribal animosity. Lithium’s incredibly light weight and strong energy potential are considered by automakers to be the solution that makes a future of electric cars possible. As reported in the New Yorker, nearly half the world’s known lithium resources are buried beneath vast salt flats in Bolivia. Yet experts doubt that Bolivian will benefit from its lithium treasure. Boliva is a socialist country at odds with the U.S., with a primitive infrastructure much like Afghanistan. Before Bolivia can hope to exploit lithium as a twenty-first-century fuel, it must first develop the rudiments of a twentieth-century economy.
Or become the venue of the next 21st century war.
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