FORGE Ahead: How Washington's New Critical Minerals Alliance Inherited the World's Most Complicated Job, and Left Its Own Leadership Question UnansweredOn February 4, 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced FORGE, the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement, as the successor to the Biden-era Minerals Security Partnership, at a ministerial attended by 54 countries and the European Commission. The new body promised sharper teeth than its predecessor: price floors enforced by adjustable tariffs, a preferential trade zone for critical minerals, and the most concentrated burst of bilateral diplomacy in American history. But as South Korea's founding chairmanship expires in June 2026, the alliance faces a governance vacuum, a credibility problem, and questions that no MOU can resolve.
