Welcome to the post‑ordoliberal era. Global power no longer pivots solely on nation‑states, grand ideologies, or multilateral treaties. Instead, it disperses across micro‑interests, digital blocs, and gray zones where borders are rewritten as lines of geopolitical code.

No more stable borders—only patches of code continuously remixing the map.

The result is a chaotic mosaic in which power camouflages, mutates, and—above all—scales.

The U.S.–China System Clash

The rivalry has evolved into a confrontation between entire operating systems. Washington raises barriers on AI, semiconductors, EV batteries, and rare‑earth supply, while Beijing counters with targeted sanctions, its digital yuan, and Digital Silk Road expansion.

This is more than trade; it is a struggle to control the infrastructure of tomorrow.

From Hot War to Hybrid Freeze

The Russia–Ukraine conflict has congealed into a frozen, hybrid war. It serves Washington’s pivot to the Indo‑Pacific, even as it nudges Moscow closer to Iran, BRICS + partners, and African resource corridors.

Dollar dominance erodes while energy and gas become instruments of disconnection diplomacy.

Europe: Spectator or Actor?

Berlin dreams of a green‑industrial pathway, Paris rekindles influence in Africa and the Balkans, and post‑Brexit London embraces radical Atlanticism. Brussels, however, remains in reactive mode—far from becoming a true geopolitical actor.

The Return of Protectionism

Hard and soft protectionism resurfaces via tariffs, hyper‑nationalized investments, and digital‑platform controls. A new economic beast emerges: psycho‑political geoeconomics, where power is measured not in GDP, but in the capacity to steer mass emotions.

Tech War: Chips, Blockchain & Cognitive Currency

The beating heart of the new Cold War isn’t in Washington or Beijing; it throbs in Taipei, where TSMC still fabs over 90 % of advanced semiconductors. The United States is racing to replicate capacity in Arizona—but it is late. For China, Taiwan is technological oxygen.

Money too becomes weaponized. As libertarian crypto dreams implode under speculation and regulation, state‑backed digital currencies (CBDCs) surge. The digital yuan is a BRICS lever while the digital euro staggers under bureaucratic drag.

Blockchain is no longer about trustless tech—it is about whose ledger defines truth.

Big Tech & the Startup Myth Collapse

The hoodie‑and‑pitch‑deck utopia is unraveling:

• Tesla bleeds market‑cap amid plunging Asian demand and fierce BYD competition.
• OpenAI wrestles with governance opacity, high‑profile exits, and regulatory scrutiny.
• Meta & Alphabet stall as their energy‑hungry models expose the cost of surveillance capitalism.

Innovation looks less like progress, more like a bubble.

Algorithm Wars: Narrative as Territory

Contemporary battles are cognitive. Algorithms curate what we see, ignore, hate, or love—turning platforms into geopolitical agents capable of destabilizing governments and scripting realities.

In the quest for narrative sovereignty, AI’s role shifts from predicting to generating context. Those who write the prompt, rule the frame.

🔄 Multipolarism as Glitch

Multipolarism is not stability; it is the system’s crash mode running by default—chaotic, adaptive, intermittent.

Sovereignty becomes hybrid: national, corporate, algorithmic. Wars are branded and streamed; economies, driven by perception before performance.

For Europe to stay relevant, it must hack its own role instead of merely participating.