Supply Chain Statecraft (DHP-H222)

Spring 2027 · DHP H222 · Tufts University · 3 credits · Undergraduate

This course examines how global manufacturing supply chains formed, who captures power and profit within them, and how states have weaponized them. Starting with the historical and geographic origins of fragmented production, the course examines the rise of contract manufacturing in Taiwan, the distribution of value in supply chains like Apple's, and the conditions under which suppliers escape dependence. It then turns to the state: industrial policy, and the weaponization of critical inputs (rare earths, semiconductors) and production equipment (lithography tools, Cold War machine tools, oilfield technology). The course will also test the analogy that economic interdependence functions like nuclear deterrence against classical strategic theory (Schelling, Jervis, Wohlstetter, Kahn), asking whether supply chain coercion can produce anything like stable "mutually assured economic destruction," and whether escalation between economic powers can be controlled.

Course codes: DHP-H222

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