7 THEATRES OF POWER

7 theatres of power
under permanent surveillance.

FARO Institute does not monitor the news. It monitors the forces that produce it.

Technologies of power.

Surveille

Artificial intelligence, semiconductors, orbital constellations, quantum computing, post-quantum cryptography, biotechnologies and genomic editing, critical materials, autonomous systems, 6G networks, hypersonic. ↳ Space & Orbital Domain: space governance (Artemis Accords vs. UN framework), orbital economy, doctrinal militarisation (Space Force / PLA SSF), launch market concentration, orbital debris & Kessler syndrome, Earth observation as sovereign intelligence.

Impact

Redefines hierarchies between states and private actors faster than any other force.

Décision

Where to invest, where to accept exposure, where to reduce dependency.

Energy & transition.

Surveille

Supply security, LNG, hydrocarbons, low-carbon transition, SMRs, critical energy dependencies.

Impact

The primary lever of geopolitical pressure. The energy transition displaces dependencies — it does not eliminate them.

Décision

Energy exposure, supply chains, transition timeline.

Industry & value chains.

Surveille

Relocation, production dependencies, logistical resilience, industrial competitiveness, trade policy, USMCA.

Impact

Value chains have become instruments of power. Their recomposition is rapid, asymmetric, and irreversible.

Décision

Industrial positioning, sourcing arbitrage, exposure to logistical disruptions.

Critical infrastructures & cybersecurity.

Surveille

Submarine cables, electricity grids, financial systems, cyber defence, sovereign cloud, SCADA/ICS, water infrastructures, clearing systems.

Impact

Critical infrastructures are the new battlegrounds. Their fragility is both a strategy and a systemic risk.

Décision

Exposure to disruptions, resilience investments, security posture.

Systemic risks & geopolitics.

Surveille

Power reconfigurations, great power tensions, rupture scenarios, strategic doctrine, proliferation, sub-threshold warfare. ↳ Global health & biosecurity: WHO governance, pandemic treaty, vaccine diplomacy, antimicrobial resistance. ↳ Maritime space & contested zones: South and East China Seas, Arctic routes, EEZ, contested UNCLOS, naval power projection.

Impact

Systemic risks cannot be read in the news — they are detected in structures.

Décision

Geopolitical positioning, exposure to international order disruptions.

Geoeconomics & financial flows.

Surveille

Sanctions, capital flows, reserve currency recomposition, sovereign wealth funds, emerging market debt, commodity markets, crypto-assets & circumvention, FDI screening.

Impact

Geoeconomics is the central instrument of power competition. Finance is a field of force, not merely a market.

Décision

Financial exposure, location arbitrage, reading of economic pressures.

Strategic talents & anchors of power.

Surveille

Skills mobility, strategic human capital, institutional attractiveness, elite circulation, diaspora, soft power, economic intelligence, strategic demography, transatlantic anchors.

Impact

Talent is an asset of power. Its concentration, flight or capture redefines the competitiveness of nations and organisations.

Décision

Human capital strategy, attractiveness, institutional alliances, Franco-Mexican and transatlantic anchors.