CRITICAL MINERAL SUPPLY CHAIN SECURITY AND MULTI-LAYERED REGIONAL GOVERNANCE: INSIGHTS FROM CENTRAL ASIA

Abstract

The convergence of green and digital ʻTwin Transformationʼ, coupled with power competition and geopolitical tensions, highlighting the growing strategic significance of critical mineral supply chains. Central Asia, endowed with substantial critical mineral reserves and situated at the crossroads of strategic transit routes, occupies a pivotal role in the evolving geopolitical and geoeconomic landscape. However, its supply chains are increasingly exposed to security risks spanning multiple levels, dimensions, and actors within and beyond the region, thereby shaping a critical mineral supply chain security complex. This article adopts the comprehensive security perspective to investigate the security governance of critical mineral supply chains in Central Asia, analysing the region’s distinctive multi-layered governance approach encompassing bilateral engagements, regional and interregional cooperation mechanisms. The analysis identifies structural limit ations including internal vulnerabilities and external dependencies and proposes policy recommendations to strengthen Central Asia’s strategic position. These include formulating harmonized standardizations, integrating resource complementarity, and mitigating adverse geopolitical pressures of power politics on supply chain security.