Washington, D.C., April 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For most of the 20th century, control over oil was synonymous with global power. The nations that produced it set prices, shaped alliances, and determined the pace of industrial development worldwide. Entire foreign policies were built around securing access to it. Former CIA advisor and economist Jim Rickards argues, in a newly released video presentation, that copper is now assuming that role — and that America's strategic position in the century ahead may hinge on what it does with the enormous copper reserve sitting undeveloped in southwest Alaska.
His presentation draws on S&P Global's January 2026 study on the global copper supply crisis, the Trump administration's executive actions on critical mineral development, and the documented resource scale of an Alaskan deposit that Rickards identifies as one of the most strategically significant undeveloped resources in the United States.
Why Copper Is the New Strategic Resource
The parallel Rickards draws between oil and copper is not rhetorical — it is grounded in documented data about how the global economy is being rebuilt. S&P Global's January 2026 study, 'Copper in the Age of AI: The Challenges of Electrification,' projects that global copper demand will rise 50 percent by 2040, driven by electric vehicles, renewable energy infrastructure, AI data centers, and defense modernization. The study projects a potential supply shortfall of 10 million metric tons by 2040 — a gap S&P Global described as 'a systemic risk for global industries, technological advancement and economic growth.'
Oil powered internal combustion. Copper powers electrification. As the global economy transitions from one to the other, the strategic calculus around metal supply chains is increasingly resembling the geopolitical calculus that once surrounded oil. Nations are racing to secure domestic supplies, sign bilateral access agreements, and reduce dependency on potentially hostile sources. China, which dominates global copper refining capacity, has already demonstrated its willingness to use critical mineral supply chains as geopolitical leverage.
America's Strategic Position
The United States is more than 50 percent import-dependent on foreign copper, according to USGS data published in 2025. China supplies more than 50 percent of U.S. demand for twenty-one nonfuel mineral commodities, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. For a country building the world's largest AI infrastructure and undertaking the most significant defense modernization in decades — both of which are copper-intensive — that dependency represents a structural vulnerability.
A significant deposit in southwest Alaska is documented in official resource filings as one of the world's largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits, with measured and indicated resources of 57 billion pounds of copper and 71 million ounces of gold. The Trump administration has taken documented steps to address the regulatory environment surrounding this and similar projects. Executive Order 14153, signed January 20, 2025, directed federal agencies to expedite natural resource permitting in Alaska. Executive Order 14241 designated copper as a critical mineral — a formal recognition of the strategic importance Rickards argues has been obvious for years.
The Historical Lesson Rickards Is Drawing
His presentation examines what history suggests about nations that develop their own critical resource supplies versus those that remain dependent on foreign sources. The geopolitical leverage that accrues to resource-sufficient nations — and the vulnerability that accrues to those that are not — is one of the most consistent patterns in 20th-century economic history. Rickards argues that the decisions being made now about whether to develop domestic copper resources are the equivalent of the decisions made in the early oil era about whether to develop domestic petroleum infrastructure. The difference is that copper's role in the 21st-century economy is already documented and already underway — there is no question about whether demand will materialize.
What the Presentation Covers
- The historical parallel between oil's geopolitical role in the 20th century and copper's documented role in the 21st-century energy and technology economy
- S&P Global's January 2026 copper demand and supply projections — and what the 17-year mine development timeline means for when the supply response can realistically arrive
- America's documented import dependency on foreign copper and the national security implications of that dependency for AI, clean energy, and defense
- The specific provisions of Executive Orders 14153 and 14241 and how they interact with the strategic resource picture Rickards is describing
About the Presentation
The full video presentation is available for on-demand viewing at no cost. To access the complete session, click here.
About Jim Rickards and Paradigm Press
Jim Rickards has spent five decades at the intersection of politics, macroeconomics, and financial markets, advising the Pentagon, the CIA, and the Federal Reserve on systemic risk and economic security. His research and analysis are published by Paradigm Press.
Derek Warren Public Relations Manager Paradigm Press Group Email: dwarren@paradigmpressgroup.com
