World Builders

World Builders Synopsis

World politics has changed, claims Bruno Maç¦es. Geopolitics is no longer simply a contest to control territory: in this age of advanced technology, it has become a contest to create the territory. Great powers seek to build a world for other states to inhabit, while keeping the ability to change the rules or the state of the world when necessary.

At a moment when the old concepts no longer work, this book aims to introduce a radically new theory of world politics and technology. Understood as 'world building', the most important events of our troubled times suddenly appear connected and their inner logic is revealed: technology wars between China and the United States, the pandemic, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and the energy transition. To conclude, Maç¦es considers the more distant future, when the metaverse and artificial intelligence become the world, a world the great powers must struggle to build and control.