Deep beneath our feet, vast and sprawling, lies one of the most sophisticated empires the world has ever known. At first glance, it might not look like much - it is made up of fibre optic cables and obscure payment systems. But according to prominent political scientists Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman, the United States has turned the most vital pathways of the world economy into tools of domination over foreign businesses and countries, whether they are rivals or allies, allowing it to maintain global supremacy.

Drawing on original reporting and ground-breaking research, Farrell and Newman explain how this underground empire has allowed the United States to eavesdrop on other countries and isolate its enemies. Now, efforts by countries such as China and Russia to untether themselves from this coercive US-led system are turning the global economy into a battle zone. Today's headlines about trade wars, sanctions, and controls on technology exports are merely tremors hinting at far greater seismic shifts beneath the surface, as we sleepwalk into a dangerous new struggle for empire.

Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how power is wielded today, Underground Empire weaves together tales of economic conflict, shadowy surveillance and covert infrastructure projects to explain how the world order has been brought to the brink of chaos - and how we might find a way back from the edge.

"Captivating… The stuff of thrillers" - The Financial Times

"If you want to understand where the world economy has been and where it may be headed, you need to read this book" - X (Twitter handle)

"The publication of Underground Empire could not be more timely. Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman offer an important corrective to a dominant narrative in US foreign policy circles." - the TLS

"We live in a digital global economy, but who controls its wiring and plumbing? Underground Empire shows how American power travels along fibre-optic cables, server farms, internet and financial infrastructure, intellectual property, and technological expertise." - The Times of India

"An important new book by Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman, two US academics. There are several reasons to read their book: it is accessible, it is engaging and it is refreshingly concise. But most of all, they get to the heart of how power really works in a globalized economy." - Chatham House

"The international relations experts Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman recently published Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy, a revelatory book that describes how modern globalization — which creates far more complex forms of interdependence than traditional international trade — has put America at the heart of an international web of surveillance and control" - the New York Times

"The world economy, from finance to technology, runs on networks. Those at the center of the networks control – often subtly and invisibly – what happens within them. More often than not, it is the US that has had that privilege. Anyone who wants to understand how the world economy got to where it is today, and how it will probably evolve, should read this book" - PS Read More Newsletter

"Farrell and Newman write fluidly and grippingly, and not just by the standards of international relations theorists" - The Washington Post

"Revelatory… the underground empire deserves the same kind of sophisticated thinking once devoted to nuclear rivalries… by highlighting how the nature of global power has changed, the book makes an enormous contribution to the way analysts think about influence" - Foreign Affairs