VISIONING A BETTER WORLD: THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
Visioning A Better World Part I
Rubio’s effort to strengthen regional partnerships connects American security to the resources and industrial capacity our future requires.
In “Visioning a Better World,” I explored the greater promise of the Abraham Accords: nations can create practical reasons for peace through trade, investment, and security cooperation. Shared prosperity gives people something valuable to protect.
That discussion also pointed toward a shift in America’s own hemisphere. This follow-up explores why that shift matters.
America cannot afford to surrender its industrial capacity or become excessively dependent on China for the materials that keep our industries operating. Bringing factories home is only part of the task. Those factories need dependable access to resources, facilities that process them, and transportation networks that deliver them.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s regional diplomacy belongs in that larger discussion. Strengthening relationships in the Americas can improve security while creating opportunities for more resilient economic partnerships. The question is how to turn those opportunities into lasting results.
Factories Need More Than a Flag
A factory built on American soil still depends on its supply chain. Its production can be interrupted if an essential material becomes unavailable, a processing facility shuts down, or a shipping route is disrupted.
Copper, lithium, graphite, and rare earth elements serve different purposes, but all illustrate the relationship between materials and modern industrial production. Building American capacity requires attention to every stage: extraction, processing, components, and finished products.
China’s position is particularly significant in processing. The International Energy Agency’s 2025 assessment identified China as the dominant refiner for 19 of 20 strategic minerals examined, with an average market share of approximately 70%. The agency also documented expanding Chinese export restrictions affecting industrial materials and processing technologies. IEA assessment
That concentration creates a vulnerability. Commercial access today does not guarantee uninterrupted access during a diplomatic or economic confrontation.
The goal should be reliable alternatives. Trade can continue while American companies develop additional suppliers and processing capacity. Greater choice strengthens our ability to make decisions in our own national interest.
Rubio and the Regional Map
During Rubio’s September visit, Peru announced that it would join the U.S.-led Shield of the Americas. The coalition focuses on intelligence sharing and cooperation against transnational criminal organizations. His visit followed stops in Colombia and Ecuador and formed part of Washington’s broader effort to strengthen regional relationships and counter growing Chinese influence. Reuters report
The immediate security purpose matters on its own. Criminal networks cross borders, and governments need dependable partners to exchange information and coordinate lawful responses.
There is also a broader strategic possibility. Regular cooperation builds relationships between officials and institutions. Those relationships can support discussions about investment, transportation, infrastructure, and the security of commercial systems.
This is the sense in which Rubio is trying to redraw the map: strengthening the network of governments willing to work with Washington. The boundaries remain the same; the relationships may change.
Why Peru Matters
Peru connects the security discussion to natural resources. It is a major copper producer, and China remains its largest export market, principally because of copper and other mineral exports. Reuters trade report
Peru is also part of an existing American supply relationship. In the figures reported by Reuters in February 2025, Chile, Canada, and Peru together supplied more than 90% of U.S. refined copper imports. Hemispheric partnerships already help sustain American industry. Reuters copper overview
Security alignment, however, does not automatically redirect commerce. Peru’s participation in the Shield does not itself establish mineral purchase agreements, change infrastructure ownership, or create new refineries.
Its continuing trade with China makes the challenge clear. Washington must offer practical economic opportunities alongside security cooperation. Partners have their own interests, customers, and development needs.
Partnerships Must Deliver
The earlier article emphasized that cooperation becomes durable when ordinary people gain something from it. That principle applies here too.
Regional governments need investment, employment, dependable markets, and infrastructure. American businesses need reliable supplies, predictable contracts, and conditions that justify long-term commitments. Agreements that address both sets of needs have a stronger foundation.
For America, a serious industrial strategy would connect domestic production with trusted external suppliers. It would support processing capacity, recycling, and transportation alongside new factories. The IEA identifies international partnerships linking resource-rich countries, processing capabilities, and industrial consumers as important to diversifying concentrated supply chains. IEA assessment
Such investments have costs and tradeoffs. New facilities take time, communities have legitimate concerns, and alternative supplies may initially be more expensive. Those considerations belong in the calculation alongside the potential cost of a major interruption.
Dependability has economic value. A supplier’s price means less if the required material cannot arrive when production needs it.
A Shared Principle Across Two Regions
The Abraham Accords and the Shield of the Americas have different purposes. The Accords concern diplomatic normalization; the Shield concerns cooperation against transnational crime. Their results should be assessed against those respective goals.
Yet the comparison offers a useful principle: sovereign nations can develop relationships around shared interests and practical benefits.
In the Middle East, my earlier article explored how cooperation could create reasons to preserve peace. In the Americas, stronger security relationships may also create opportunities to build dependable economic connections.
Neither outcome is automatic. Diplomatic announcements begin a process. Investment, institutional cooperation, and tangible benefits determine whether it lasts.
The Work Behind the Vision
America’s industrial future requires attention to the entire chain that makes production possible. Our regional diplomacy and our domestic economic decisions need to work together.
Rubio’s engagement provides an opportunity to strengthen that connection. Its significance will ultimately depend on what follows: effective security cooperation, durable commercial agreements, and investments that expand the choices available to America and its partners.
A better world needs productive nations capable of cooperating from a position of confidence. For America, that means preserving the ability to build, obtaining the resources we need, and developing partnerships that can withstand pressure.
In my previous article, I suggested double-checking the seating chart.
This time, we should also check who supplies the table—and whether we can still build one ourselves.
