Age of Planetarity: A Deep Dive Assessment on Empire of Zombie Technologies

This article analyses the contemporary international system through a pluridisciplinary lens integrating imperial history, complex systems theory, and Earth system science. Situated within the dynamics of the Anthropocene, it reconceptualizes contemporary great-power competition by examining socio-technical systems (STS) predicated on the intensive consumption of fossil fuels and mineral resources. We posit that the prevailing STS metabolic regime is unsustainable in the long term, owing to the significant constraints imposed by geological and planetary boundaries. These limitations will become increasingly pronounced as the effects of the systemic crisis intensify. This regime not only perpetuates imperialist logics, visible in rivalries over resources essential for technological dominance, but also generates a ‘zombified’ technosphere that actively disrupts Earth system processes and jeopardizes planetary habitability. The article consequently advocates for de-imperialism as an essential trajectory, requiring a shift to networked and systemic geopolitics via the active dismantling of imperial structures.