Non-State Actress: The Iceberg #6
Neutrality is fake, only Lorde and Joni Mitchell are real.
Last Week in Review
Non-State Actress's Main Character Energy: Global Edition
Welcome to Main Character Energy: Global Edition, a weekly round up of things you may have missed and why they matter.
BLUF:
Neutrality is fake. As the US considers financially exiling China's tech giants, Russia fills security vacuums in Africa, Central Asian states come together to pivot away from their post-Soviet guardians, and North Korea weaponizes Silicon Valley's hiring algorithms to fund its nuclear ambitions, it’s super clear that war really is politics by other means and those means are not always ‘armies.’ Sanctions, security partnerships, and remote work are all tools and conflict can happen with capital flows, IT workers, and regional alliances that blur the lines between economic warfare and actual warfare. The common thread is a world order in flux, where everyone from startups to superpowers is being forced to choose sides - and that may not be so bad.
Press Play
Lorde - "Liability" (For when you're suddenly a liability on the stock market)
Led Zeppelin - "Kashmir" (That Central Asian summit vibe)
Joni Mitchell - "River" (Changing allegiances)
David Byrne - "Psycho Killer" (When you ask North Korean workers about Kim Jong Un)
Joni Mitchell - "The Circle Game" (It all comes back around to military funding)
Literally Delisting You: Will the SEC Make China Pack Its Bags?
Hosting your rivals' military-building tech empire on your stock market is apparently no longer the vibe. House China Committee Chair John Moolenaar and Senator Rick Scott basically told 25 Chinese companies worth $1 trillion, including Alibaba, Baidu, and JD.com, to leave the group chat, citing national security tea that's been steeping since the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. The two Republican lawmakers wrote to SEC Chair Paul Atkins asking for what would be one of the most "You Can't Sit With Us!" moments of all time, leveraging existing laws to argue that these firms essentially use American capital to advance strategic objectives that conflict with U.S. interests. DJI, known for its content creator-friendly microphones and recording gear, is also responsible for about 85% of the world's drone components, and makes those components for the Chinese Liberation Army.
Why It Matters: Broadly speaking, it's about preventing American savings from funding national security concerns while protecting investors from what officials call "unacceptable risks." $1 trillion is a lot though, and the forced divestment could mean major disruptions for people's portfolios at a time when things are already less than stable. Is it a bitter but necessary pill to swallow? It may be. Critics of the move suggest it's unnecessary because the US didn't divest from Germany and Japan ahead of or during World War II, but this is honestly like when your niece drags you for not playing Minecraft in Middle School – unfair and illogical because there was no Minecraft when you were in Middle School. Global markets were not structured the way they are now in the 1930s and 1940s; the comparison is as effective as using baby oil to prevent skin cancer.
Central Asian Intelligence Services Enter Their Group Project Era
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