UNDERGROUND EMPIRE

Two senior academics examine how the U.S. seeks to exert global power in the digital age.

Between them, Farrell, a professor at Johns Hopkins and member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Newman, a professor at Georgetown, have a huge amount of expertise in foreign policy and international relations. In this collaboration, they adamantly assert that the U.S. is the supreme power in the world, dominating enemies and allies alike. The key is the effective control of critical elements of the world’s technological systems. Far from being a decentralized network, the information web depends on a relatively small number of “choke points,” most of them in American territory. Since 9/11, successive presidential administrations have used this situation as a tool for gathering intelligence and as a weapon for potentially cutting an adversary out of global communications. Connected to this is the domination of international capital flows, partly through economic weight and partly via forced compliance from banks and corporations. The authors have amassed a wealth of research material, but their overall argument is not entirely persuasive. After all, the idea of an empire—even an underground one—implies a high level of focused power, and anyone who examines U.S. foreign policy of the past two decades will quickly find failures as well as victories. Having power and using it effectively are very different things. Yes, pressure can be exerted through economic sanctions, but this does not mean guaranteed success. Russia still sits on a chunk of Ukraine; Iran has not collapsed; North Korea continues to make missiles; China continues to develop its surveillance state. As such, the global landscape is chaotic, adversarial, and unpredictable, as it has long been and will continue to be. Though the authors offer a number of intriguing ideas, the book is undermined by a persistent overstatement of its case.

Farrell and Newman are experts in their field, but this book will fail to convince many readers.