The Quiet War: How Countries Fight Without Firing a Shot (#293)
3/17/202621 min
A few paragraphs from Washington once stopped oil tankers in their tracks halfway around the world - no navy, no missiles.
Eddie Fishman, who helped design and implement U.S. sanctions and economic warfare policies, explains how these quiet battles shape global power.
If countries can inflict real damage without firing a shot, what does power look like in this new kind of war - and how vulnerable are we?
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First 90 secondsLynn Toman· Host0:00
[chime] What if the decisive battles of the twenty-first century aren't fought on battlefields, but in banks, supply chains, and payment systems? Today, power can be projected by freezing assets, cutting off chips, or rerouting trade flows, moves that can wound a rival nation without a single shot. If economic networks have become the new terrain of conflict, where does real power now lie? And how secure are we in a world where the systems we depend on can be turned into weapons overnight? [music] Hi, everyone. I'm Lynn Tolman, and this is Three Takeaways. On Three Takeaways, I talk with some of the world's best thinkers, business leaders, writers, politicians, newsmakers, and scientists. Each episode ends with three key takeaways to help us understand the world, and maybe even ourselves, a little better. Today, I'm excited to be joined by Eddie Fishman, a scholar at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and author of Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare. He previously served at the US State Department, helping design and implement sanctions