The notion of complete self-sufficiency was often seen as a myth within the modern world as the contemporary developments of globalisation reveal the hyper-connected world we live in today, where countries are succumbed to the interdependent nature of the global economy. It is not surprising to see that countries across the world are increasingly dependent on one another for their resources and this is also regarded as the norm and trait of today’s world. However, issues such as growing demand and potential import disruptions have surfaced recently, with the notable COVID-19 pandemic threatening many global supply chains and affecting the sufficiency and sustainability of resources within nations. This raises the question if countries should be pursuing complete self-sufficiency to minimise the threats from the external environment and to be able to maintain itself without outside aid or intervention. Even though some nations have pursued self-sufficiency to some degree and have adopted incremental progress over the past decade to provide for their own needs, in practice, self-sufficiency is arguably still viewed to be a relative concept along a continuum that is highly dependent on the global climate. This question raises the debate if complete self-sufficiency is even possible given the interdependent nature of our global economy today. Is there any interests or benefits to aim for complete self-dependency in countries? What are the factors that may influence, shape or limit such possibilities?
Is complete self-sufficiency in countries ever possible?
