Articuli of Global Value Chains as New Challenges to National Security

Contemporary crises in global value chains (GVCs) have exposed the fundamental vulnerability of the global economic architecture built on hyper-optimization, thereby creating qualitatively new challenges to the national security of states that become dependent on critical nodes. This article moves beyond the descriptive approach to "bottlenecks" by proposing a systemic theory through the introduction of the "articulus" concept. An articulus is defined as an indispensable functional node within a GVC that, akin to a joint in an organism, ensures efficiency while simultaneously concentrating catastrophic risk. It is argued that articuli are a natural product of technological progress governed by two principles: progressive scale dependency and critical specialization. On this basis, a comprehensive typology of articuli is developed—ranging from natural resource-based and technological to institutional and human capital-based types. The observed trends of regionalization and risk mitigation are demonstrated to constitute a process of re-articulation—a painful search for a new, more sustainable configuration of critical nodes. The conclusion formulates a radical finding: control over articuli gives rise to a new geo-economics of power, where ensuring national security requires a shift from a policy of risk mitigation to an active strategy of sovereignty over critical nodes. The world is moving towards a model of techno-feudal plurarchy—a system of polycentric power where traditional nation-states are forced to share sovereignty with corporate articuli and technological suzerains. This represents a historical challenge to the foundations of the Westphalian order and outlines the contours of a new geo-economic paradigm for the 21st century.