and Japan, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), and the strategic cooperation between NATO and Indo-Pacific - all to help put pressure on China. keeps on building multilayered plurilateral networks - as seen in the establishment of the Aukus, the trilateral cooperation among Korea, the U.S. Shortly after the dismantling of the Three Emperors’ League, Bismarck secretly stuck the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia in 1887.
He went on build a bilateral alliance with the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1879 followed by the Triple Alliance by inviting Italy in 1882. He established the Three Emperors’ League with Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire - both enemies to one another - with Germany at the center. After unifying Germany in 1871, Otto von Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor, isolated France - Germany’s archenemy - by devising such a multilayered alliance strategy. The chip alliance is at the crest of America’s multilayered network strategy to compete with China. Earlier in March, he proposed a “Chip 4 Alliance” with Korea, Japan and Taiwan, After declaring investments in chips a core strategy of the United States to “win a 21st-century contest,” President Joe Biden visited a Samsung Electronics chip factory in Pyeongtaek on the sidelines of his summit with President Yoon Suk-yeol in May. Semiconductors are at the front of the disrupted global order. The dramatic shift in global politics demands entrepreneurs pay special heed to the diplomacy of their governments - and geopolitical variables - more than efficiency.
As trade and investment have to be protected and carefully managed, decoupling, supply chains and industrial policy have become new buzz words.
After basic principles such as free trade and multilateralism collapsed, globalization and economic integration have become ideas of the past. The U.S.-China confrontation is shaking the international order established after World War II. The author is a professor emeritus of political science and international relations at Seoul National University.