Underground Empire

By Henry Farrell, Abraham Newman,

Book cover of Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy

Book description

Shortlisted for the Lionel Gelber Prize

A Responsible Statecraft best foreign policy book of 2023

A deeply researched investigation that reveals how the United States is like a spider at the heart of an international web of surveillance and control, which it weaves in the form of globe-spanning networks such…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Underground Empire as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Farrell and Newman do an excellent job exposing the often hidden financial and infrastructural roots of US global power.

The book details how the US has used its control of choke points over internet and telecommunications traffic, as well as global banking through the SWIFT network, to enable it to advance its security objectives worldwide, while fighting back against rising challengers. Theirs is a cautionary tale, however, of overreach and globalization creating the possibility of pushback and escalation.

From Norrin's list on globalization and security.

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