The Power of Chokepoints, Weapons of Economic Warfare
- Global Supply Chains and the New Battleground of Hegemony
The Core Weapon of the Age of Economic Warfare: Chokepoints
In international politics, economic power is just as important as military power. Yet hegemony cannot be explained simply by the size of GDP or trade volume. True power lies in 'where and how flows can be controlled'. Edward Fishman calls these 'chokepoints'. A chokepoint is not just a segment of the supply chain but a gateway that grips the bloodstream of the global economy. The dollar settlement network, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and energy transport routes?all these narrow passages controlled by certain states dominate the world.
“Hegemony is not just power, but the power to control flows.”
A state that dominates chokepoints can pressure adversaries without fighting a war. It can strangle its enemies, strengthen the cohesion of allies, and secure leverage at the negotiating table. In other words, chokepoints are invisible weapons and a new form of 21st-century power.
America’s Chokepoint Strategy
Since the Cold War, the United States has systematically managed the major chokepoints of the global economy. The dollar-based international financial system and the SWIFT payment network were effectively in America’s hands, and global semiconductor manufacturing equipment and advanced software also fell within its sphere of influence. This was not a coincidence but the result of deliberate strategy.
Fishman illustrates this vividly through the case of sanctions against Russia. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the U.S. expelled major Russian banks from the international settlement system. It went further by cutting off access to advanced semiconductors and critical technologies, putting enormous pressure on the Russian economy.
“Russia lost the circuit before it lost the battlefield.”
This was more than trade restrictions?it was 'a comprehensive economic war waged through the manipulation of technological, financial, and infrastructural chokepoints'. The United States experimented with a way to incapacitate its adversary without firing a single shot, and it proved remarkably effective.
Competition with China over Chokepoints
Yet America’s dominance over chokepoints faces a direct challenger: China. China has secured global influence in rare earths, battery materials, and solar panels, thereby creating new chokepoints. Rare earths are essential for smartphones, electric vehicles, and military hardware, and China controls over 80% of this supply chain.
Moreover, the Belt and Road Initiative is not just an infrastructure development project. It is a strategic effort to secure ports, railways, pipelines, and other key nodes, in order to 'build its own global chokepoints'.
“China is not just building new routes, it is creating new chokepoints.”
Thus, U.S.?China rivalry is not simply a tariff war or a trade dispute but a long-term struggle over 'who will control the bloodstream of the world'.
The Dark Side of Chokepoints: Vulnerability and Inequality
Chokepoints are powerful sources of strength, but they also create structural vulnerabilities. When there is excessive dependence on a single chokepoint, a small shock can ripple across the world. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the collapse of global semiconductor supply chains halted the automobile industry?this is a representative case.
“A single chokepoint can stop the heart of the global economy.”
The unequal distribution of chokepoints locks developing countries into structural dependency. Resource-exporting states may possess raw materials, but without control over the processing and transport chokepoints, they lose value. Meanwhile, the states that hold chokepoints gain the power to rewrite the rules of global markets. In the end, chokepoints become the intersection of power and inequality.
Implications for South Korea
South Korea is a typical country caught between chokepoints. It has world-class strength in semiconductor production, but in raw materials, equipment, and software it remains highly dependent on foreign suppliers. For this reason, Korea is inevitably sensitive to the moves of states that dominate chokepoints.
In particular, U.S. export controls and China’s supply chain pressures force Korean companies to make strategic choices. Samsung Electronics and TSMC have emerged as pillars of the global semiconductor chokepoint, which brings both opportunity and heavy burden.
Therefore, Korea must move beyond being a mere production base. It must build 'technological and institutional capabilities to create and manage its own chokepoints'. Unless it establishes autonomous chokepoints in fields such as semiconductor equipment, battery core technologies, and AI software, Korea will be repeatedly shaken by external shocks.
The Coming Wars over Chokepoints
The next stage of hegemonic rivalry will be 'a full-scale battle over chokepoints'. In the age of energy transition, rare earths and battery materials will emerge as strategic chokepoints; in the digital age, data and cloud infrastructure will become the new arteries of power. Whoever controls the flows of information will determine the direction of global hegemony.
Fishman issues a warning:
“The wars of the future will be fought not just on land, but over chokepoints.”
This warning is not mere speculation by a scholar but a reality already unfolding. Middle powers such as South Korea must not simply avoid chokepoints but actively design and manage them. Only by doing so can they both survive and prosper in the economic wars of the 21st century.
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