Dr. Gracelin Baskaran is director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A mining economist, she has spent over a decade working on critical minerals globally, beginning her career in South Africa’s platinum belt before spending five years at the World Bank. She published a policy playbook, Critical Minerals and the Future of the United States Economy, and is writing a book on a U.S. international strategy for minerals engagement. Dr. Baskaran is an adjunct associate professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies and holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge.