The Trump administration has fundamentally pivoted US foreign policy toward “enshittification,” a coercive strategy that weaponizes global financial, military, and digital platforms to extract concessions from long-standing allies. By leveraging the infrastructure layer of international relations—ranging from the US dollar clearing system to F-35 fighter jet software—Washington is transitioning from a protector of the “rules-based order” to a predatory platform monopolist. This shift, identified by critics as the monetization of hegemony, forces nations to choose between total submission or a costly, decade-long pursuit of technological independence.
Monetizing the Global Order: From Platforms to Prisons
In 2022, author Cory Doctorow coined “enshittification” to describe how digital platforms like Amazon and Facebook lure users with high-value services, only to eventually squeeze them for profit once switching costs become insurmountable. Today, the United States is applying this lifecycle to geopolitics. American power no longer rests solely on diplomatic persuasion; it functions through network effects. When allies purchase F-35 jets or utilize the dollar clearing system, they are not merely buying a product—they are locking themselves into a proprietary ecosystem controlled entirely by Washington.
For decades, this arrangement was tolerable because of a shared commitment to global stability. However, the current administration has signaled that this trust is obsolete. With President Trump threatening to annex Canada or ban foreign officials who challenge US tech policies, the “soft wiring” that connects the West is being used as a leash. As Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney recently noted, the US has begun to aggressively monetize its global dominance, treating international security and finance as a pay-to-play subscription service.
The Dollar Clearing System as a Financial Guillotine
The US dollar remains the world’s primary expedient for trade, but it has evolved into the chief enforcement mechanism of American policy. Global banks route transactions through US-regulated institutions like J.P. Morgan or Citibank to “clear” funds. Losing access to this system is an existential threat to any financial entity. The administration recently demonstrated this power by imposing sanctions on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) following his indictment of Benjamin Netanyahu. Within days, the official was a financial pariah: his UK bank accounts were frozen, and his Microsoft email access was revoked, proving that American platforms can effectively erase an individual’s professional and financial life.
The F-35 ‘Kill Chain’ and the Illusion of Sovereignty
Military hardware has undergone a similar transformation. Allies that built their defense strategies around the Lockheed Martin F-35 now face the reality of the “kill chain.” While rumors of a physical “kill switch” remain unconfirmed, the operational reality is equally restrictive. These aircraft require constant software updates, proprietary intelligence streams, and mapping data that flow directly from the US. Without this digital umbilical cord, the platforms are effectively “bricked.” This was evidenced in February when the US temporarily severed intelligence feeds to Ukraine, rendering precision-guided systems useless following a contentious diplomatic meeting.
The Musk Factor: Starlink and Infrastructure Coercion
Communication infrastructure has become the latest frontier for enshittification. Elon Musk’s Starlink, which controls approximately 65% of active satellites in orbit, has become indispensable for global internet connectivity. However, Musk’s proximity to the Trump inner circle has transformed a commercial service into a tool of statecraft. Reports indicate the administration threatened to withdraw Starlink access from Ukraine unless the nation surrendered mineral rights to US interests. Musk’s public dismissal of Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski—stating there is “no substitute for Starlink”—underscores the vulnerability of nations dependent on a single, politically aligned provider.
EuroStack and the Global Scramble for Independence
Faced with the prospect of being “deplatformed” from their own security and finance, European leaders are accelerating plans for “strategic autonomy.” The European Commission is currently negotiating to replace Microsoft’s cloud services with local providers, while Denmark has begun shifting government operations to open-source alternatives. This movement, often referred to as “EuroStack,” aims to build a sovereign digital infrastructure that includes independent satellite networks and a joint defense fund to purchase non-US weaponry.
European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde has emphasized the need for independent payment and credit infrastructures to safeguard the continent’s economy “just in case.” While these projects will be expensive and likely lag behind the cutting-edge performance of US tech, the alternative—total dependence on a volatile American administration—has become a risk many are no longer willing to take.
The Final Phase: When Enshittification Turns Inward
The trajectory of enshittification suggests that once a monopolist finishes squeezing its vendors and partners, it eventually turns on its core customers. For the US government, those customers are its citizens. The administration has already begun weaponizing federal payment systems against domestic nonprofits and businesses that fall out of political favor. With contractors like Palantir merging federal databases into massive surveillance engines, the tools used to coerce allies are being refined for domestic use.
As the rest of the world builds exits from the American network, US citizens may find themselves trapped in a diminished system where infrastructure is a weapon and utility is secondary to control. De-enshittifying the platforms of American power is no longer just a diplomatic necessity for allies; it has become a fundamental imperative for the preservation of American democracy itself.
