Structural Violence and Digital Dependencies
Dependencies on non-allied suppliers are no longer seen as commercial inconveniences; they are strategic vulnerabilities. In the digital age, reliance on Chinese rare earths, Taiwanese semiconductors, or non-European cloud services constitutes a form of structural violence that constrains autonomy and weakens deterrence. These vulnerabilities are not episodic but systemic, embedded in global supply chains that adversaries can exploit. The European Union and NATO have recognised this reality, making sovereignty and supply chain resilience central to capability planning. Public funding streams such as the European Defence Fund, Horizon Europe, and national sovereignty programmes now target critical dependencies directly. For investors, this creates a structural opportunity: firms capable of substituting non-allied suppliers in strategic technologies enjoy institutional demand and long-term protection. Sovereignty has become not only a political imperative but an investment thesis. Reducing dependencies is no longer optional — it is the price of credible autonomy.