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PAUL KENNEDY

AA Bronson, White Flag #9, Rabbit skin glue, Champagne chalk, raw honey on wool, cotton and metal grommet on linen, 2014

Debt, not war: the logic of hegemonic transition

In 1956, a phone call ended an empire. Not with bombs, but with bonds. Today’s hegemonic transition follows the same logic: power shifts not on battlefields, but through debt, currency and control of financial infrastructure

A 16th-century painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder depicting a desolate battlefield where skeletal figures personify death, wreaking havoc on humanity. Fires burn in the background, gallows stand ominously, and a sea of bodies—nobles, peasants, and soldiers alike—lie lifeless. The painting symbolizes the relentless cycles of power, war, and decline, mirroring the geopolitical tensions of the emerging tripolar world

Paul Kennedy’s vision: The coming tripolar world

British historian Paul Kennedy, in an Engelsberg Ideas interview, analyzes the emerging tripolar world order, where economic strength dictates military power and geopolitical influence