Arthur Ross Book Award, Council on Foreign Relations, Bronze Medal Shortlisted for the Lionel Gelber Prize Named a best book of the year by Foreign Affairs and Responsible Statecraft 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 as fiber optic cables and obscure payment systems America’s security state first started to weaponize these channels after 9/11, when they seemed like necessities to combat terrorism―but now they’re a matter of course. Multinational companies like AT&T and Citicorp build hubs, which they use to make money, but which the government can also deploy as choke points. Today’s headlines about trade wars, sanctions, and technology disputes are merely tremors hinting at far greater seismic shifts beneath the surface. Slowly but surely, Washington has turned the most vital pathways of the world economy into tools of domination over foreign businesses and countries, whether they are rivals or allies, allowing the U.S. to maintain global supremacy. In the process, we have sleepwalked into a new struggle for empire. Using true stories, field-defining findings, and original reporting, Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman show how the most ordinary aspects of the post–Cold War economy have become realms of subterfuge and coercion, and what we must do to ensure that this new arms race doesn’t spiral out of control.

Recommended on 1 episode:

Trump’s Tariffs Are Part of a ‘Tectonic Plate Shift’ in the Global Economy

After a week of market chaos, President Trump pulled back from the brink. But he didn’t pull that far back. He left a 10 percent tariff on most of the world and launched a trade war with China. It’s unclear what he will do after this 90-day pause or what countries need to do to satisfy him. But one thing that is very clear now is that our economy is subject to one man’s whims. How are businesses supposed to adapt to this new reality? What is this new reality? Peter R. Orszag is the chief executive and chairman of Lazard, one of the world’s largest asset management and global financial advisory firms. He also served as the director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Barack Obama, so was a policymaker during a financial crisis. And over the past few months, he’s been talking to lots of C.E.O.s and corporate board members as they try to process these changing policies. I wanted to ask him what he’s been hearing and how he sees the volatility of this moment.

Books recommended:

• 📕  Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy by Henry Farrell, Abraham Newman
• 📘  Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare by Edward Fishman
• 📗  Smart Money: How Digital Currencies Will Shape the New World Order by Brunello Rosa, Casey Larsen
• 📙  The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life's Deepest Secrets by Thomas R. Cech
• 📕  KAPUT by Wolfgang Münchau

Peter Orszag April 11, 2025 5 books recommended

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