About the Author
Chris Miller is a professor of International History at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. Amazon link
Introduction
Another recommendation from X, Musk’s social network. The author aims to paint a general picture of semiconductors. A technology of paramount importance in the modern world.
What stands out most to me after reading this work is how truly extraordinary the United States is. I say this without any irony. Indeed, it was primarily on their soil that the main advances in the field took place. America had a favorable ecosystem: Bell Labs, brilliant scientists, and a unique entrepreneurial culture. Driven by the need to finance costly R&D and conquer the private market beyond military orders, American entrepreneurs sought to industrialize production and lower costs.
This economic logic met a geopolitical strategy. From the 1960s, the first delocalizations took place, not only to find cheap labor but also with a clear political goal: to integrate allies into the value chain to create a capitalist bulwark against the USSR. Japan was the first major beneficiary of this policy. The Americans, anxious to prevent the archipelago from moving closer to the Soviet bloc, encouraged technology transfer. Thus, the first mass-market product based on semiconductors was Japanese, even if the chips inside remained American. This strategy was then extended to other “Asian Tigers” (South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan), creating a zone of prosperity and a global, yet interdependent, supply chain.
The saga of semiconductors is therefore scientific, technological, and entrepreneurial, but inseparable from geopolitics.
The book concludes with the current situation, marked by intense rivalry between the United States and China. It is crucial to note that the initiative comes from Beijing. It is Chinese actors, having greatly benefited from their integration into the global system, who are now seeking to emancipate themselves to achieve complete strategic autonomy. This ambition to master the entire value chain forces the United States to react. Without this push, Washington would probably have continued its integration policy, treating China like other Asian economic powers.
However, this goal of autonomy seems almost impossible to achieve. The manufacturing chain is incredibly complex, relying on decades of interconnected innovations across the globe. A striking example is the EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) lithography machine produced by the Dutch company ASML. This equipment, essential for engraving the most advanced chips, is the result of more than twenty years of research and development and some of the most complex industrial processes in the world. No nation can today replicate such a feat alone.
Faced with Chinese ambition, the United States has adopted a defensive posture, imposing strict export controls to cut off China’s access to these advanced technologies. This strategy marks a break with the American approach of the 1960s. This new “chip war” is redrawing the technological and geopolitical map, forcing each actor to reconsider its alliances in a competition where semiconductors have become the weapon of power. Chris Miller’s book is therefore essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the true stakes of power in the 21st century.