On September 12, HCSS strategic analysts Benedetta Girardi and Laura Jasper presented their paper “From Nexus to Loop” at the 2024 edition of the Italian Society of Political Science (SISP) Conference, taking place at the University of Trieste, Italy.
The event was part of the University’s centenary celebrations and is one of the most important meeting of political scientists and scholars held annually in Europe. More than 700 scholars attended the SISP conference in Trieste, from various European and non-European countries.
The conference, entitled ‘Europe and Borders: Democracy, Union and States’, presented a rich programme with over one hundred panels and numerous round tables, offering an in-depth analysis of the main issues in contemporary political science. The phenomena examined in the different sections include the erosion of democratic and the expansion of autocratic regimes, the rise of populism, international and internal conflicts, the transformation of political rhetoric, public policy, and gender issues.
The paper “From Nexus to Loop: How economic interdependence and great power competition shape domestic policy responses – a case study from the semiconductor industry,” examines how domestic economic policies are increasingly securitised against the backdrop of hyperglobalisation and renewed great power competition, particularly between the United States and China.
Over the last decade, global supply chains have become highly integrated and specialised, causing unprecedented economic interdependence and efficiency. However, they have also created vulnerabilities that can be exploited for strategic purposes. At the same time, the world is experiencing renewed great power competition between China and the US, in which technological and economic advancement serve as a means of power projection; national interest is currently intimately tied to economic strength – the so-called economic-security nexus.
Girardi and Jasper theorize that the combination between weaponised economic interdependence and renewed great power competition between China and the United States turns the economic-security nexus into a self-reinforcing loop. Using the case study of the semiconductor industry, the authors argue that states increasingly adopt both punitive and incentivizing domestic policies to protect their security interests and get ahead in the power competition, which makes it increasingly difficult to disentangle economic from security matters. This trend reflects a shift towards an intertwined global environment where weaponised domestic policies are an essential component of renewed great power competition.
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