🎬 In this new episode of RI Strikes Back, we dive into the film G20 (2024), streaming on Amazon Prime. The film follows the first African-American female president of the United States during a G20 summit in Cape Town... which turns into a diplomatic and geopolitical nightmare. A terrorist attack, cryptocurrency issues, and disinformation fuelled by artificial intelligence transform this international summit into a breathless thriller.
🌍 Through critical and incisive analysis, we discuss:
• Contemporary American soft power (Captain America, Wakanda, etc.)
• Cryptocurrency and the weakening of state power
• Non-state actors and hybrid threats (mercenaries, AI, propaganda)
• Summit diplomacy vs. corridor diplomacy
• Information warfare via deepfakes and social media
• Indo-Pacific strategy and the rise of South Korea as a key ally
• The telling absence of China and the rewriting of power relations
🤖 The film also prompts us to reflect on the growing role of AI in contemporary conflicts, the difficulty of regulating cyberspace, and the fragility of our democracies in the face of digital manipulation.
🎙️ An episode where cinema, feminist criticism and geopolitics intertwine, to understand how a simple action film can reflect — and manipulate — the major international balances of power.