Myanmar Kachin state’s rare earths turns forgotten war zone into new fault line in US-China rivalry

Myanmar Kachin state’s rare earths turns forgotten war zone into new fault line in US-China rivalry

Most Americans would struggle to locate Myanmar on a map, let alone its northernmost state of Kachin. Yet this rugged, mountainous frontier—wedged between China and India—has once again emerged as a geopolitical flashpoint. For Washington’s strategists, it looks like an opportunity: a region where old alliances, mineral wealth, and Chinese vulnerabilities converge. For anyone with a sense of history, however, it is also a reminder of how the Uni…