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Podcast: Fault Lines
Episode: Episode 517: Rare Earths and Realpolitik: Inside the U.S. Australia Deal
Description: Today, Les, Martha, Andy, and Jess discuss Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s White House visit and a pair of major announcements: a reinvigorated AUKUS partnership and a new U.S.–Australia critical minerals deal. While both moves signal deepening strategic and economic ties, the real test will be delivery, building nuclear-powered submarines, securing rare earth supply chains, and reducing reliance on China’s market dominance.Can Washington and Canberra turn these announcements into action, or will timelines and industrial bottlenecks slow progress into the 2030s? Is this partnership a true step toward allied self-reliance, or mostly...