W/Henry Farrell, Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy (Holt 2023/Penguin); Georgetown; This is a private account.
Great conversation with @financialtimes.com Economic Security Watch on the weaponization of interdependence in the global economy. One key takeaway: weaponized interdependence is proliferating and governments and business need to be ready. www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2qo...
Weaponised interdependence: How the US, China and AI are rewriting economic statecraftYouTube video by fDi Intelligencewww.youtube.comNew in EW magazine. Time for Europe to recognize that the rules of the global game have changed. To navigate, it takes political vision as much as any new economic resources. www.ewmagazine.nl/buitenland/a...
www.ewmagazine.nlFollowing Charles II precedent, Trump lends pardon power to corporations. Neo-royalism anyone... www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Trump Extends Pardons to Companies, Echoing a 17th Century KingThe president is the first in modern US history to issue clemency to businesses, with nine so far in his second term.www.bloomberg.comLots of eyes on Canada but Brazil tariff just as bonkers. US going after a trade surplus country because of its internet content regulation and its bank payment system. This is not about manufacturing jobs but political dominance. www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado/2026...
www1.folha.uol.com.brThis is what neo-royalism looks like. International relations serves the interests of the court not the nation. The goal is to funnel wealth and status to the sovereign. Here, crypto is a means to that end. www.cambridge.org/core/journal... www.nytimes.com/2026/06/30/u...
Trump Pulled in at Least $2 Billion After Returning to the White Housewww.nytimes.com1/As G7 pledges more action on Russia sanctions, Asia increasingly calling out weaponization of insurance market. See this from Editor in Chief at SCMP. @southchinamorningpostrss.newsmast.social.ap.brid.gy. www.scmp.com/opinion/chin...
Opinion | Can Hong Kong break London’s maritime insurance grip?An alternative system is needed to end Washington and London’s ability to weaponise maritime insurance for their geopolitical ends.www.scmp.comKings love gladiators. Unfortunately now my kid cant get to school because of a security corridor... #neo-royalismisapain www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System | International Organization | Cambridge CoreFurther Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System - Volume 79 Issue S1www.cambridge.orgKate KlonickIt seems overnight the White House has been replaced by a Monster Energy Drink branded UFC cage
experienced new circle of hell: AI agent telemarketing.
Estelle Getty: I Hate That! (Golden Girls)ALT: Estelle Getty: I Hate That! (Golden Girls)static.klipy.comAs weaponized interdependence proliferates, the risk is that countries will substitute one dependence for another eg ME oil with Chinese clean energy tech stack or US natural gas. www.wsj.com/world/hormuz...
Hormuz Crisis Exposes a Global Flaw That Will Take Years to FixIran’s stranglehold on the strait demonstrates the power countries can exert over economic pinch points.www.wsj.comIt is hard not to see AI intimacy economy as mass commercialization of cults run by Big tech. Humans lured into turning their emotional energy towards machines. Given enshittification of attention economy, things that look quaint today could quickly turn dystopian. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/u...
To Stay in Her Home, She Let In an A.I. Robotwww.nytimes.com#neo-royalism
Charles Ornstein“The call came from the White House: We have to get this done,” the person said. About three months before the Pentagon announced plans to lend money to Vulcan Elements, Donald Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm took an undisclosed stake in the company. @robert-faturechi.bsky.social
This piece by @himself.bsky.social is a banger. The implication of AI for management is not what management thinks. 🫣
Henry Farrell"At last we have created the Corporation That Eliminates Middle Managers from classic management text Don't Eliminate the Middle Managers!" www.programmablemutter.com/p/ai-isnt-ma...
Neo-royalist work together to disrupt the rules based order and unleash a world based on exceptionalism and hierarchy. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System | International Organization | Cambridge CoreFurther Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System - Volume 79 Issue S1www.cambridge.orgIngmar von HomeyerAlliance building... "During his summit with Xi, Trump also suggested that the US, China and Russia should join forces to combat the ICC, saying their interests were aligned, according to the people familiar with the talks." www.ft.com/content/567c...
Kill switch debate in tech is just part of a broader phenomenon that @himself.bsky.social and I describe as the enshittification of US power. It was so nice for Europe until it was weaponized. Now tech, the dollar, weapons platforms are all Janus faced infrastructure. www.wired.com/story/enshit...
The Enshittification of American PowerFirst Google and Facebook, then the world. Under Trump 2.0, US statecraft is starting to mimic the worst tendencies of Big Tech.www.wired.comHetan ShahScary diagram on how much of our daily lives would fall apart if somehow we were cut off from US tech. Tech sovereignty and resilience is going to be costly! www.ft.com/content/4c3a...
@edwardluce.bsky.social nails it. Welcome to neo-royalism. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System | International Organization | Cambridge CoreFurther Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System - Volume 79 Issue S1www.cambridge.orgEdward Luce"Were the 25th amendment to be used on Trump, his ejectors would surely cite the monuments he is building to himself. “Me,” was Trump’s answer about the object of his proposed 250ft triumphal arch in Washington." Me on why there's more to Trump's self-naming than ego. as.ft.com/r/d065f444-b...
The natural corollary of the enshittification of US power/infrastructures. www.wired.com/story/enshit...
The Enshittification of American PowerFirst Google and Facebook, then the world. Under Trump 2.0, US statecraft is starting to mimic the worst tendencies of Big Tech.www.wired.comSwiftOnSecurityThe only adjudication that can be laid somewhat globally is through American tech companies, who everyone secretly wants to act as sovereign transnational governments for their own ideological axe.
And for those interested, Underground Empire can be yours for less than a bagel! Still 1.99 on ereader: a.co/d/08BP2c8P
Amazon.coma.coSwiftOnSecurityOf course @abenewman.bsky.social @himself.bsky.social would point out American dominance of global financial settlement as the superior power, but it's not adjudication. Great book, fascinating stuff on history of transition of world systems to electronics and America's activation of that influence.