Trusted Interdependence and Operational Sovereignty: Building Allied AI Ecosystems

For much of the post-World War II era, the United States underwrote a relatively stable system built on security alliances, open trade, global institutions, and broadly interoperable economic architecture. That system created unprecedented prosperity and helped foster remarkable technological innovation. Today, however, that order is evolving.

The return of strategic competition — particularly with China — has exposed vulnerabilities within deeply interconnected systems. Security, economics, technology, infrastructure, and finance are becoming increasingly intertwined. Decisions about semiconductors affect national security. Decisions about cloud infrastructure affect diplomacy. Decisions about telecommunications affect economic resilience.

“We appear to be moving toward a world that is neither fully globalized nor fully fragmented — a world of competing blocs, yet continuing interdependence.”

In that world, power will increasingly be shaped not only by states and alliances, but by technology ecosystems, infrastructure networks, capital flows, standards bodies, and the firms that operate across them. And nowhere is that more apparent than in artificial intelligence.

THE AI ECOSYSTEM RACE

Too often, AI discussions focus narrowly on models, algorithms, or chips. Those elements matter enormously — but AI is increasingly becoming a systems race. The competition is no longer simply about who develops the most advanced model or the most powerful semiconductor. It is increasingly about who can assemble and scale the most effective ecosystem: compute, cloud infrastructure, telecommunications, energy systems, industrial software, logistics platforms, financing mechanisms, cybersecurity, standards, governance structures, and trusted deployment pathways.

The ecosystem that attracts the most users, generates the most operational data, mobilizes the most capital, and achieves the greatest scale may ultimately enjoy advantages that compound over time.

THE DUAL RISK FACING DEMOCRACIES

Democratic nations today face two risks simultaneously. The first is coercive dependency — legitimate concerns about dependence on foreign-controlled infrastructure, cloud platforms, telecommunications networks, and software ecosystems. Concerns about operational continuity, infrastructure lock-in, and so-called “kill-switch” risks are already shaping national policy around the world.

But there is a second risk that receives far less attention: strategic fragmentation. If every democratic nation pursues complete technological autonomy — separate standards, separate clouds, separate ecosystems, separate governance frameworks — we may ultimately weaken the very scale advantages democratic systems need to compete globally. Fragmentation carries real costs: reduced interoperability, higher infrastructure expenses, slower deployment, weaker learning loops, and less competitive ecosystems overall.

“The challenge is not choosing between sovereignty and interdependence. Neither extreme is realistic. The challenge is finding a workable middle ground.”

THE CENTRAL QUESTION

That is why this roundtable is organized around two guiding concepts. Operational sovereignty asks: how do nations retain strategic agency and operational continuity within interconnected systems? Trusted interdependence asks: how do we preserve the benefits of scale, openness, and interoperability while ensuring that dependency never becomes coercive?

Ultimately, the central question is this: Can democratic nations create sufficient trust that allies remain willing to scale together? And if the answer is yes — what does that actually require? What governance structures? What operational safeguards? What role for national champions and allied participation? What forms of dependency are acceptable, and what forms are not?

Those are the questions we hope to explore.