The lecture introduces the importance of space and highlights the conflicts surrounding and dependencies on space-based infrastructure. Regarding the economic, military and strategic importance of space as the fourth domain of human civilization, the capabilities and gaps of Europe are presented and the possibilities of Europe's technological autonomy in space are assessed.The lecture introduces the importance of space and highlights the conflicts surrounding and dependencies on space-based infrastructure. Regarding the economic, military and strategic importance of space as the fourth domain of human civilization, the capabilities and gaps of Europe are presented and the possibilities of Europe's technological autonomy in space are assessed.

For some time now, discussions on globalization have increasingly focused on infrastructure policy and geoeconomics. In academic discourse, this shift is reflected in references to the “infrastructural turn” and the “geoeconomic turn”. This lecture examines whether systematic connections exist between these developments and how they can be conceptualized and empirically analyzed. The central argument is encapsulated in the concept of the “infrastructure-geoeconomic nexus”, whose specific manifestations are shaped by two key structural factors: first, the rise of financialized high-tech capitalism, which is transforming both the provision and use of infrastructure; and second, the global power dynamics, particularly the U.S.-China rivalry. Empirically, intensified geoeconomic competition is most evident in three key infrastructural domains: transportation and logistics, energy supply, and data communications.

This talk explores the rise of China’s capital markets and their growing integration with global finance through an infrastructural perspective. Rather than conforming to liberal, Anglo-American norms of organising finance, Chinese exchanges—acting as infrastructure providers that organise markets—have developed and internationalised capital markets primarily shaped by state-capitalist institutional logics. As a result, China is constructing a parallel system of capital markets—one that coexists with, but also challenges, the existing financial order. The talk examines how this expansion of Chinese financial infrastructures at home and abroad is increasing China’s footprint in global financial markets.

This talk explores AI and platform power in the digital ecosystem, with a focus on cloud infrastructure. By examining platforms’ evolving entanglements with data, compute, and platform economies, it critically analyses their role in shaping technological and economic dependencies—and their broader consequences.