Critical minerals and the shaping of Central Asian economies through the ages

Global powers have increasingly become aware of Central Asia's resource wealth, having come to recognise the economic and geopolitical importance of securing access to critical minerals. The region's geological and strategic importance is amplified as the global economy transitions into the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This paper sets out to engage the literature on critical minerals which has only recently included Central Asia. The key questions here are “ critical for what ” and “ critical for whom .” The very notion of criticality of minerals is anything but universally applicable and/or frozen across time. Disruptive technologies and the pace of scientific advancement challenge any static and fixed categorisation of critical minerals. Within this context the case of Central Asia is unique. Although Central Asia is a latecomer to the global CRM story, this is not the first time the region has been at the centre of mineral resource driven scientific and technological revolutions. This paper presents evidence from three key historical periods (the Bronze Age, the period of the Mongol Empire and the Soviet era) to showcase the breadth of engagement Central Asian communities have had with critical minerals as suppliers and drivers of technological change. Taken together these represent repositories of actions that can inform national natural resource management strategies and steer state actors in the region away from being reduced to raw materials suppliers. This regional context is brought into focus precisely because of the looming spectre of China in the neighbourhood. Finally, the paper engages with the latest scientific technologies to highlight Central Asia's unique position and potential as supplier and innovator simultaneously.