Infrastructure Statecraft: U.S. Global Power from a Manila Hotel to Digital Dominance

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

Infrastructure projects have long been central to the exercise of U.S. power, both domestically and abroad. This talk introduces the concept of “infrastructure statecraft”—the interplay of engineering expertise, finance, and state authority in shaping durable networks of power.

 The speaker will begin with an unlikely episode: how Manila’s premier hotel, which opened in 1912 as a triumph of private enterprise, ended up under U.S. government control through the financial struggles of a railway company. By tracing this story alongside the career arcs of key engineers, she will reveal how infrastructure statecraft operated through overlapping physical, financial, and social networks, often blurring the line between public and private power. 

While the large-scale projects often fell short as business ventures, they entrenched U.S. influence in lasting ways. Recognizing these dynamics challenges scholars and policymakers to see infrastructure statecraft not only in the cement-heavy projects of the past but also in today’s digital and financial architectures of global power.

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