Understanding Who Holds Power and How the World Is Changing Today

The 21st century has not inaugurated the demise of imperialism—it has merely stripped it of its camouflage. As American hegemony loses its moral gloss and rival powers maneuver into place, the architecture of global power reveals itself not as obsolete, but as deeply adaptive. Imperialism has not disappeared; it has diversified. From boardrooms and datacenters to pipelines and proxy militias, the imperial instinct persists—repackaged, digitized, and increasingly fragmented.