Underground Empire

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Brought to you by Penguin.

An explosive new vision of geopolitics from two trailblazing political scientists

Deep beneath our feet, vast and sprawling, lies one of the most sophisticated empires the world has ever known. At first glance, it might not look like much - it is made up of fibre optic cables and obscure payment systems. But according to prominent political scientists Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman, this network is the key source of American power on the global stage, more significant than its military might.

Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has built a new empire underground, through telecommunications and financial networks that the entire world relies upon, which has allowed it to eavesdrop on other countries and isolate its enemies. And now, efforts by countries such as China and Russia to untether themselves from this coercive US-led system are turning the global economy into a battle zone.

A gripping and revelatory account of contemporary geopolitics, Underground Empire weaves together tales of economic conflict, shadowy surveillance technologies and covert infrastructure projects to explain how the world order has been brought to the brink of chaos - and how we might find a way back from the edge.

©2023 Abraham Newman (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

Underground Empire is an astonishing explanation of how power really works. From fiber optic cables to the financial system, Farrell and Newman show how the networks that knit us together are also powerful coercive tools, providing a subtle and revelatory account of how the United States learned to weaponize its dominance of the world order's plumbing. A riveting read, essential for understanding how economic and technological power is wielded today
Chris Miller, author of CHIP WAR
The sharpest and most striking analysis I've seen in years of the state the world's in, cunningly disguised as a user-friendly business book
Francis Spufford, author of GOLDEN HILL
Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman paint a persuasively alarming picture of just how American power has become entrenched deep in the plumbing of the world economy. Underground Empire is a passionate plea for restraint and reform in the face of a world burdened by all kinds of geopolitical dangers
Helen Thompson
Farrell and Newman's book is like an MRI or CT scan of recent world history, giving us a new and startling image of the global body politic, as clear as an X-ray. Cognitive mapping takes on a new aspect with their analysis, as they shift from the technological to the historical, showing both how this new nervous system of world power came to be, and how it could be put to better use than it is now. Given the intertwined complexities of our very dangerous polycrisis, we need their insights
Kim Stanley Robinson, author of THE MINISTRY FOR THE FUTURE
Underground Empire tells a riveting story about the deep forces that have shaped our present moment. The book is a portrait not of a single protagonist or event, but rather a system that shapes much of the world today: a web of dollars and data that has, half accidentally, given the United States a new kind of geopolitical control over both its enemies and allies. It is history written in its most powerful form: a view of the recent past that gives us a new lens to better discern our future
Steven Johnson, author of HOW WE GOT TO NOW
Captivating... The stuff of thrillers
The Financial Times
If you want to understand where the world economy has been and where it may be headed, you need to read this book
X (Twitter handle)
The publication of Underground Empire could not be more timely. Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman offer an important corrective to a dominant narrative in US foreign policy circles.
the TLS
We live in a digital global economy, but who controls its wiring and plumbing? Underground Empire shows how American power travels along fibre-optic cables, server farms, internet and financial infrastructure, intellectual property, and technological expertise.
The Times of India
An important new book by Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman, two US academics. There are several reasons to read their book: it is accessible, it is engaging and it is refreshingly concise. But most of all, they get to the heart of how power really works in a globalized economy.
Chatham House

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