Forward to the Past: Sanctions and Strategic Trade Control in the Age of Algorithms, Semiconductors and Artificial Intelligence
Journal: Journal of Illicit Trade Financial Crime and Compliance
Year: 2026

This paper analyzes how software and artificial intelligence enhancements, applied throughout the lifecycle of advanced and off-the-shelf semiconductors, enable performance elasticity—allowing standard hardware to achieve enhanced or restricted capabilities, including the development of weaponized variants. We examine how the potential for weaponizing hardware-software synergies is challenging traditional strategic trade controls and arms embargoes. In the Wassenaar Arrangement, the leading nonp