The Non-State Actors Are the New Sovereigns: How Tech, Finance, and Code Reshape Global Power - Special Episode 34

• The emergence of non-state actors as new sovereigns, wielding influence comparable to or surpassing that of nation-states.
• The vast economic scale and market capitalisation of leading technology firms, often exceeding the GDP of many countries.
• The dominance of tech giants over critical digital infrastructure, including cloud computing (AWS, Azure, GCP) and mobile operating systems (Android, iOS).
• The strategic power derived from the relentless collection and analysis of data by tech companies, fuelling AI development and providing unparalleled insights.
• The invisible but profound influence of software that underpins global business operations and critical infrastructure, and the control maintained by vendors.
• The concentration of control in the hands of software providers facilitated by the shift towards cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) models.
• Social media platforms functioning as primary sources of news and central arenas for public discourse for billions of users.
• The profound influence of algorithmic curation on user perception, content consumption, and the amplification of specific narratives, including misinformation.
• The impact of social media dynamics on political processes, including polarization, echo chambers, and the weaponisation of platforms by malicious actors.
• The challenges and inherent power dynamics of content moderation on social media platforms, effectively constituting private governance over speech.
• The consolidation of capital management in the hands of massive financial institutions like BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, overseeing tens of trillions in assets.
• The significant potential influence of large asset managers in corporate governance through voting rights and increasing engagement on issues like ESG factors.
• The impact of private equity firms through acquiring and restructuring companies, often involving significant debt (leveraged buyouts) and affecting industries and employment.
• The interconnected "playbook of power" used by non-state actors, including lobbying, talent acquisition, technological path dependency, financial leverage, narrative control, and standard setting.
• The fundamental challenge posed by powerful non-state actors to traditional state sovereignty and the structural hurdles governments face in regulating them effectively (e.g., pacing problem, global vs. national scope).