The Pentagon, Palantir, and the Fight for Sovereignty

Political economist Clara Mattei and David Adler trace how the Pentagon, Palantir, and private capital have fused into a single warfare economy, and how people can reclaim economic sovereignty from it.

The conversation opens on a state where the line between the Pentagon and the corporations, private equity, and venture capital funding it has effectively dissolved. David Adler, political economist and co-General Coordinator of the Progressive International, follows the $200 billion in public money now flowing into the defense and surveillance sector, and shows how that machine powers a new wave of extraction across the global South.

From there they move to the political layer: a reactionary right, from Trump and Milei to Peter Thiel, that reverses the old order and lets politics reshape the economy. David describes the comprador elites whose historical role is to sell away the sovereignty of their own countries and enact policies that drain wealth toward outside powers.

The back half is the response. David and Clara treat economic sovereignty as a practical project: ending bilateral investment treaties, removing foreign military bases, and building food and energy independence through regional cooperation. Cuba anchors the case, under siege and transitioning toward energy sovereignty with technology transfer from China. The throughline is a program for clawing back power at the local, community, and regional level to build fairer, more just, and more ecological societies.

This is a segment from our full conversation with David Adler.

Chapters:

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