Strategic Competition > Strategic Domains
Semiconductor Leadership
Securing the Foundations of Innovation, Security, and Economic Power
“Without secure leadership in semiconductors, there is no secure innovation, no secure economy, and no secure defense.”
Kennedy photo from Frankfurt, Germany.
🔹 Strategic Context
- This page is part of WISC’s Strategic Competition framework, applying geoeconomic statecraft through the STEAD model — integrating Security, Technology, Economics, Alliances, and Diplomacy — to secure U.S. leadership across critical domains.
Why Semiconductor Leadership Matters
- Semiconductors are the essential building blocks of modern economies, critical infrastructure, and national defense.
- Without leadership in semiconductors, nations risk:
- Losing technological and industrial competitiveness
- Ceding critical supply chains to authoritarian influence
- Compromising defense readiness and innovation ecosystems
- Maintaining trusted access to advanced semiconductor capabilities—design, fabrication, packaging, and supply chain security—is foundational to success in strategic competition.
Strategic Priorities for Semiconductor Leadership
- Expand Domestic Advanced Manufacturing: Fully implement and build upon the CHIPS Act to establish cutting-edge semiconductor production in the United States.
- Strengthen Allied Supply Chain Resilience: Deepen collaboration with trusted partners—Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Europe—to diversify and secure semiconductor supply chains.
- Safeguard Innovation and IP Leadership: Enhance R&D investments in next-generation technologies and enforce IP protection across global markets.
- Coordinate Export Controls and Tech Standards: Apply targeted, multilateral export controls to deny authoritarian regimes access to critical chip technologies while reinforcing open-system standards.
- Align Investment, Research, and Trade Policies: Integrate semiconductor leadership goals into trade agreements, development financing, and global standards forums.
Insights & Engagements
🏛️ Engaging Administration or Congress, 📰 Op-Ed / Article / Quoted 🎙️ Podcast ✍️ Policy Brief 👥 Roundtable / Event 🎤 Speaking 🎥 TV/Video 🌐 Global
Achieving Both Security & Global Market Leadership
Building Supply Chains & Partnerships
- 🎤 🇨🇦 Speech: Partnering on Technology, Trade and Energy - U.S. National Intelligence Council at Embassy of Canada - September 27, 2023
Closing Principle
Semiconductor resilience is economic sovereignty, national security, and strategic credibility—without it, leadership in the 21st century is impossible.
👉 Related Pages
🔷 Featured Insights
360° View of How Southeast Asia Can Attract More FDI in Chips and AI - Wilson Center Policy Brief - April 1, 2025
America’s AI Strategy: Playing Defense While China Plays to Win (critique of AI Diffusion Rule) - Wilson Center Policy Brief - January 24, 2025