SMALL CHIPS - BIG POLITICS : Framing Semiconductor Interdependence in Europe’s Industrial Anchors: Sweden and Germany

Once regarded as purely technical inputs, semiconductors have become among the most geostrategic salient assets of our time. As such, this thesis explores how semiconductors have become such a charged policy issue at the intersection of technology, policy, and geopolitics. Specifically, amid intensifying U.S.-China rivalry, semiconductor supply chains have emerged as a key policy area, as their deep interdependencies have become increasingly entangled with security concerns. Drawing on insights from the literature on the concept of weaponized interdependence, this thesis conducts a frame analysis informed by Erikson's (2011) Dynamic Frame Analysis to analyse how semiconductor interdependence is problematised in Swedish and German news media, wherein news articles constitute the unit of analysis. Through a mixed-method approach combining qualitative frame analysis with quantitative presentation, this thesis reveals cross-national divergences where semiconductor interdependence is framed more explicitly as a politically and nationally grounded issue in the German context than in Sweden. Overall, the study seeks to bridge technological dimensions with political science research, reflecting broader geopolitical shifts whereby intricate technological components are increasingly securitised and in turn, merit political scrutiny.