CSIS Names Gracelin Baskaran Director of Critical Minerals Security Program

Photo: iLab/CSIS
Washington, DC – September 30, 2024 – The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) today announced Gracelin Baskaran has been named director of its Critical Minerals Security Program.
Dr. Baskaran, who joined CSIS in August 2023, is recognized as one of the foremost scholars on critical minerals security policy. As the director of the Critical Minerals Security Program, Dr. Baskaran will lead research efforts on building resilient supply chains from mine to manufactured goods in the defense, technology, and energy sectors. This will include supporting market-led efforts to expand production, processing, and recycling capacities and leveraging commercial diplomacy tools to forge new geopolitical alliances and increase U.S. engagement in resource-rich Global South countries.
The program, which is an expansion of the CSIS Project on Critical Minerals Security, will widen its scope beyond energy to support national security and economic competitiveness.
Under Dr. Baskaran’s direction, the program will build upon CSIS’s longstanding work with policymakers on both sides of the aisle to create more resilient minerals supply chains. The urgency for the United States to implement sounder policies has rapidly grown in recent years amid increased competition with China, which is the largest provider of over half the minerals deemed critical by the US Geological Survey. Over the last two years, China has introduced export restrictions for minerals such as germanium, gallium, graphite, and antimony, which will undermine the ability of the United States to produce military technologies, semiconductors, and clean energy.
Dr. Baskaran began her career in South Africa’s platinum belt and later spent five years based at the World Bank there. Her expertise and research have been cited by the U.S. International Trade Commission, Financial Times, The Washington Post, Politico, Bloomberg, and Foreign Policy, among others. She has testified before Congress and is a regular speaker at leading international mining and energy conferences, universities, and policymaker forums. Dr. Baskaran holds a doctorate from the University of Cambridge.
"I am honored to serve as the inaugural director for the Critical Minerals Security Program at CSIS and look forward to advancing our research to deliver strategic recommendations to protect our national security and economic competitiveness,” said Dr. Baskaran. “Our analysis will continue to support policymakers and private sector actors in meeting and securing America’s critical mineral needs for the 21st century.”
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