Marco Rubio Warns of Dangerous Dependence: Why America Must Rediscover the Power of Making Things

Rubio argued that the post-Cold War vision went beyond free trade. It assumed that increasing economic integration would make national differences and geopolitical rivalry less important. “There was this fantasy, really, that the whole world would become a free enterprise. And that everyone would look like us. That ran into reality!” The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine demonstrated how energy and food dependencies could become strategic liabilities. The growing U.S.-China rivalry transformed semiconductors, batteries, critical minerals and advanced technologies into national-security concerns. And he stressed that he was talking about much more than…