The Next Global Superpower Isn’t Who You Think
"Who runs the world used to be an easy question to answer; today, the answer is not a government at all."
Consider, for a moment, the extraordinary confrontation between Brazil’s democracy and Elon Musk. When Brazil’s Supreme Court froze Starlink's accounts and effectively banned X in the country, it was not just another geopolitical row. It was a confrontation that crossed borders and involved not only the authorities of a state of 215 million people but also the very existence of private equity in the digital sphere and beyond, in the satellites above our heads.
The situation in which Amazon and Alibaba are building their empires and even private militaries with influence beyond their countries' borders is reminiscent of Ian Bremmer's TED Talk, "The Next Global Superpower Isn’t Who You Think."
Bremmer’s speech serves as a sobering reminder that not only the governments of the traditional superpowers, but also the “digital sovereigns” increasingly dictate the rules of the game in international relations
The speaker warns that commercial satellites, which have kept the Ukrainian military at war, or private algorithms that decide elections, are already power centres comparable to sovereign states. The TED Talk makes us think about whether we live in a world where states make decisions for us
"The real problem of humanity is the following: We have Palaeolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology."- E.O. Wilson
Credits
Vijaya Rahul Sivapu
2026-2028
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