American Greatness and Decline | Is North Korea Plotting a War? | Everyone Wants a Chip Factory, and more

Not only is the goal of a stronger EU formally enshrined in the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, but the country’s economic model relies heavily on European integration and global market access. That reliance has only increased now that cheap energy from Russia no longer underpins the economy’s competitiveness.
But Germany’s party system is changing ahead of this spring’s European Parliament elections. Newer, radical parties are openly challenging the postwar consensus. Indeed, the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is promoting an exit from the EU, an end to support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, and a reversal of the country’s decarbonization policies.

Settler Sanctions and the Liberal International Order  (Carla Norrlof, Project Syndicate)
Although US President Joe Biden’s new sanctions on Israeli settlers committing violence in the West Bank are in many ways unprecedented, a failure to have enforced international law in this case would have dealt a massive blow to the legitimacy of US global power. But will it be enough?

Three Ways to Monitor, Mitigate & Respond to Supply Chain Challenges  (Moshe Nelson, HSToday)
The world’s current volatile threat environment is a significant threat to the health and protection of our vital supply chains and critical infrastructure sectors. The US and its allies were already facing shortages of things like baby formula, chemotherapy drugs, antibiotics, and fuel. Add port backups, semiconductor problems, and dozens of other supply chain obstructions, and our way of life, economic prosperity, stability, and safety and security are obviously under siege.

Does North Korea Want a War? Study the Ukraine Conflict for Clues  (Ralph A. Cossa, National Interest)
My biggest fear, and the main reason I am uncomfortable joining the chorus announcing that war is unlikely, is that Kim may have drawn a more disturbing lesson from Ukraine. His pronouncements last year about preemptive nuclear strikes appear to echo Putin’s nuclear saber-rattling against Ukraine, which many believe has kept NATO at bay.

Is North Korea Plotting a War?  (Timo Kivimäki, National Interest)
Instead of emphasizing the U.S.-South Korean ability and willingness to punish North Korea’s aggression, there is a need for the “credibility of non-punishment” if North Korea does not initiate war. Without such, North Korea may perceive, in a spiral of mutual provocations, that its choice is between attacking or being attacked.

Everyone Wants a Chip Factory  (Rishi Iyengar, Foreign Policy)
Containing China’s technological advance—particularly in semiconductors and the artificial intelligence applications they power—has been one of the Biden administration’s biggest policy priorities. 
But the competition with China is merely accelerating a transition that was already underway, sparked by semiconductor shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. “You saw kind of a fundamental inflection point where global manufacturers said, ‘This is not anti-China, but we need to build resiliency, and we can’t be overly dependent on one country, frankly even one region,’” said Bruce Andrews, Intel’s corporate vice president and chief government affairs officer who previously served as deputy secretary of commerce in the Obama administration. 
Companies have enthusiastically answered the call. At least 70 new projects have been announced since the CHIPS and Science Act was first introduced in 2020, with planned investments totaling $220 billion, according to figures from the Semiconductor Industry Association. 
But nearly four years on, a few cracks are starting to show. Some of the highest-profile projects—including a new $40 billion complex in Arizona by industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and a $20 billion expansion in Ohio by Intel—have reportedly been delayed due to a combination of workforce shortages, slowing market demand, and protracted negotiations for CHIPS Act funding, which Raimondo said the Biden administration expects to award in the coming weeks.