Undersea Internet Cables and Satellite Communication Networks (SATCOM): The New ‘Great Game’ for the Imperialist Superstructure of the 21st Century

It is estimated that by 2030-35, the economy of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) will surpass that of the United States- - in purchasing power parity terms, a feat that had already been accomplished by 2016 (Giles, 2023). A crucial, but not widely discussed, aspect of the US-China rivalry is being waged in space and beneath the sea via the world’s digital communication network systems, which depend on undersea internet cables and satellites. This critical communications infrastructure underpins the world economy, providing global connectivity that is essential to the maintenance and expansion of US-led capitalist exploitation, imperialist warfare, and espionage. The strategic significance of this infrastructure has risen in step with the intensification of the confrontation between the US and China, a confrontation that the US seems determined to resolve militarily. China, in stark contrast, is forging a trade and development path that seems likely to yield economic and geopolitical supremacy over the US. This chapter critically analyses this dangerous ‘Great Game’ and the ‘superstructure’ of global imperialism, which in certain respects is undergoing radical transformation.