Our Other Strategic Resources - by Yoni Rechtman

Keeping cultural exports out of authoritarian hands

We increasingly and rightly restrict the export of strategically important resources (especially chips, fabs, and networking equipment) to China in the name of national security. We’re in a technological arms race and have appropriately determined that our enemies shouldn’t avail themselves of the fruits of our liberal democracy in their quest to undermine it. But the most important export from the US isn't chips or technical knowledge. It’s culture and cultural products. Allowing those exports to flow to China (and other authoritarian regimes) is destructive in two ways: it compromises…

related reading

• The Engineering State - American Affairs Journalamericanaffairsjournal.org
• The Burn and the Choke: Why Semiconductor Controls Will Outlast China’s Rare Earth Weaponwarontherocks.com
• The Limits of Chip Export Controls in Meeting the China Challengecsis.org
• Jason Hickel Blog - Jason Hickeljasonhickel.org
• Putting the Biden Administration’s “New Economic Statecraft” in Context | Lawfarelawfaremedia.org
• I read Trump’s trade adviser’s anti-China book. It’s wilder than you can imagine.vox.com
• What Does America Want From China? | Foreign Affairsforeignaffairs.com
• The Space Shuttle Misdirection | China Open Source Observatorychinaopensourceobservatory.org
• Will this be the Chinese Century? - by Noah Smithnoahpinion.blog
• CSR101_Feb4.inddassets.cfr.org
• China’s 2026 Export Controls Redraw the Global Supply Chain Maprareearthexchanges.com
• Propaganda in China - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org