Capacity to Deny Access as a Form of Coercion
Discussion
Indy Johar:
"As corporate and state power re-entangle, the distinction between economy and security begins to dissolve. Payment systems, shipping insurance, cloud access, satellite infrastructure, semiconductor supply, technical standards, currencies, logistics networks and digital platforms become instruments of geopolitical power.
The capacity to deny access becomes a form of coercion. A state–market system can incapacitate another actor without occupying its territory. It can interrupt finance, restrict compute, disable communications, deny components, withdraw insurance or close markets.
Violence is therefore no longer expressed only through physical destruction. It is increasingly exercised through the selective withdrawal of the conditions required for agency. Power becomes the capacity to preserve the continuity of one’s own system while interrupting the continuity of another.
The economy does not merely support geopolitical conflict. It becomes one of its primary theatres."