The global race for critical minerals, essential for technologies from smartphones to fighter jets, is creating both peril and promise for resource-rich developing countries, according to WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Speaking at the U.N. Security Council, she warned that these minerals are increasingly viewed as strategic assets, leading to heightened interstate competition and a risk of conflict. This dynamic often locks developing economies into low-level production while higher-value jobs and profits go elsewhere. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres highlighted the human cost, noting that in eastern Congo, armed groups profit from illegal mining of lithium, cobalt, and nickel, with civilians bearing the brunt of ongoing conflict. In Sudan, the exploitation of natural resources like gold and gum arabic has fueled a bitter civil war, leading to atrocities and mass displacement.