In many parts of Africa, both war-torn and peaceful, for example, China has slowly and quietly implemented a campaign of neocolonial investments in infrastructure and resources. From a $475 million light-rail in Ethiopia to continent-wide energy loans worth $17.6 billion from 2000 to 2014, China has invested heavily in Africa — especially in countries that happen to be resource-rich in particularly important commodities, such as oil and the so-called "rare-earth elements" that have become key components of consumer electronics. They're used in everything from mobile devices and cars to high-tech weaponry, and as demand for them grows, China stands to benefit from its long-cultivated relationships on a continent that America has largely forgotten. The market for these rare materials, deemed essential to U.S. national security, will be squeezed, and China will have the advantage.