We are beginning to understand that globalization has strategic consequences. Countries are using their position in globalized networks to "weaponize interdependence," through their dominance of information and financial networks. In this talk, Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman will discuss the research and policy agenda of weaponized interdependence, addressing such questions as: What areas of the global economy are most vulnerable to unilateral control of information and financial networks? How sustainable is the use of weaponized interdependence? What are the possible responses from targeted actors? And how sustainable is the open global economy if weaponized interdependence becomes a default tool for managing international relations?
Henry Farrell is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute Professor of International Affairs at SAIS and 2019 winner of the Friedrich Schiedel Prize for Politics and Technology. He works on a variety of topics, including democracy, the politics of the internet, and international and comparative political economy.
Abraham Newman is a professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and Government Department at Georgetown University. He is the Director of the Mortara Center for International Studies. His research focuses on the ways in which economic interdependence and globalization have transformed international politics.
Their article Weaponized Interdependence: How Global Economic Networks Shape State Coercion, International Security, 44,1:42-79 was the winner of the 2021 Best Security Studies Article Award from the International Studies Association’s International Security Studies Section.
Chair: Brigid Laffan
The seminar is on Zoom - please register to receive the link. All are welcome.