American political scientist Abraham Newman explains in an interview the 'age of weaponised interdependence,' where modern global networks are highly centralised and used by states to coerce adversaries. He and co-author Henry Farrell argue that this centralisation creates a vulnerable structure, not a flat world. Newman stresses that markets now involve not just efficiency but also vulnerability.
In the South China Morning Post's 'Open Questions' column, Georgetown University professor Abraham Newman discusses Donald Trump's 'neo-royalist world order' and 'weaponised interdependence'.
Newman explains that many view globalisation as a decentralised process creating numerous actors, ending great power conflicts and putting firms in control of a dispersed world. But he and co-author Henry Farrell argue in their book Underground Empire that this is the wrong image.
"If you think about these networks, whether it’s finance, communication or production, they’re highly centralised in the international economy," Newman says. "Take the iPhone. It’s made either by a chip from TSMC or Samsung. If you make a global financial transaction, it goes through a handful of banks. And the phone itself is dependent on either Apple or Google for the operating system. That kind of centralisation is not a flat world. It’s a centralised one."
States exploit this centralisation for coercion, by monitoring and surveilling adversaries or cutting them out of key networks. Newman describes this as the shift from neo-liberal high globalisation to a world where markets are about not just efficiency but also vulnerability.
The interview touches on keywords like China, Russia, Australia, Japan, highlighting how interdependence is strategically used in great power rivalry. Newman's views draw from his collaboration with Farrell, emphasising central nodes in global networks such as the Swift system and Ant Financial as geopolitical tools.
The interview was published on February 23, 2026, offering insights into current international relations dynamics.
