Infrastructure and Influence: Rethinking Power in an Age of Global Networks

Name: Infrastructure and Influence: Rethinking Power in an Age of Global Networks
Start: 2026-03-26T12:15:00-0400
End: 2026-03-26T13:45:00-0400

Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

Infrastructure power—control over the networks and platforms that make modern societies function—is reshaping international security in ways that existing models struggle to capture.

For more information, contact susan_lynch@hks.harvard.edu

Date: Thu, Mar 26, 2026 Time: 12:15pm - 01:45pm Location: One Brattle Square, 350

Speaker
Mary Bridges

Speaker: Mary Bridges, Ernest May Fellow in History & Policy, International Security Program

Infrastructure power—control over the networks and platforms that make modern societies function—is reshaping international security in ways that existing models struggle to capture. It operates differently from military force or economic leverage: it shapes actors' choices without coercing them. It creates path dependencies that designers rarely anticipate. And it ensnares those who wield it.

This presentation explores infrastructure power dynamics through cases ranging from Cold War highways to AI to understand the implications for nations holding influence that they do not fully control.

Admittance is on a first come–first served basis. Tea and Coffee Provided.