Global Neighbours Breakfast Club with Prof. Alex Capri, NUS Singapore

On May 28, Global Neighbours hosted Prof. Alex Capri, author of the bestseller “Techno-Nationalism – How it’s Reshaping Trade, Geopolitics and Society,” and Senior Lecturer at the Business School of the National University of Singapore (NUS), one of Asia’s premier academic institutions. The event was part of the Global Neighbours Breakfast Club, a recurring, invitation-only format that brings together participants from business, politics, diplomacy, international organizations, think tanks, and academia for focused discussions on global issues.

As Europe braces for Trump 2.0 tariffs, it faces a deeper strategic challenge: navigating the realpolitik of 21st-century tech competition, where national security and economic strength are inextricably linked to technological prowess and control over it. The intensifying rivalry between the United States and China has compelled Europe to become a competitive player in what Capri defines as “power-multiplier domains,” including artificial intelligence, aerospace, semiconductors, quantum science, and energy.

Capri opened the session with a personal reflection on his early experiences in Asia’s technology sector. Drawing on three decades of firsthand experience witnessing globalization, he described how we are transitioning from an era of an open, liberal economic order to one marked by hyper-fragmentation. While the global economy remains integrated in many ways, it is becoming increasingly divided along strategic and political lines. Capri defines techno-nationalism as a model in which technological capabilities are closely linked to national security and social stability. This reordering of priorities has led to the weaponization of value chains, including goods, data flows, and the movement of skilled people. It has also prompted strategic decoupling, particularly with China in sectors such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and has ushered in what Capri terms “innovation mercantilism,” marked by aggressive industrial policy and public-private defense alliances.

States are much more actively deciding which sectors to develop, how to manage talent, and which partnerships to pursue. This has resulted in more minilateral agreements with trusted partners. In this paradoxical new environment, states continue to trade even as they prepare for confrontation in areas such as cyberspace.

The conversation also examined the increasing influence of non-state actors, notably powerful technology companies and their leaders, who now serve as strategic assets, along with the challenges this trend poses for smaller states and Europe.

Participants discussed the implications for academia, the role of multilateral institutions, and the resilience of alliances like NATO. Capri noted that while academia has historically thrived on open collaboration, it is also becoming entangled in geopolitical competition. The trend towards restricting foreign talent is already apparent, with universities shifting from open models to more controlled systems of cooperation. At the same time, he highlighted the opportunities this new era presents, noting that businesses aimed at enhancing transparency and trust in value chains, particularly in logistics and traceable products, are set to become a trillion-dollar industry.

The discussion concluded with a broad agreement that, despite the uncertainty and competing interests of the present moment, significant economic opportunities exist for those who can adapt to the new reality and build resilience in a fragmented world.

Host: Global Neighbours GmbH/e.V.
Guest: Alex Capri, Author & Lecturer, National University of Singapore (NUS)
Date & Venue: May 28, 2025 | Global Neighbours Office, Johannesgasse 15/3/12, 1010 Vienna, Austria