The Infrastructural Power of the Cayman Islands and the US State Power

A Financial Networks Centrality Approach

Bibliographic Data

ID3948474
AuthorsAlexandru-Stefan Goghie (0000-0002-8763-2611, Freie Universität Berlin, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume30
Issue3
Pages1391-1416
Publication date2025-05-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeopolitics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1465-0045 • E-ISSN: 1557-3028
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14650045.2024.2407592
OpenAlexW4403185409
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited57

This paper explores the symbiotic relationship between the Cayman Islands and the centrality of the United States (US) in global financial networks, using their connection as a test case for a broader theory of how infrastructural power of states is achieved through transnational and networked strategies.The legal and financial infrastructure of the Cayman Islands is extensively used by US financial institutions.This infrastructure supports the development of a significantly US-centric fund industry, facilitating substantial investments into US capital markets.Additionally, it serves as a global conduit, channelling funds from regions such as Asia and Latin America into US markets, streamlining the process by which foreign investors acquire US securities, and supporting the development of complex USD-denominated financial products.This dynamic enhances the depth, liquidity, and complexity of US capital markets, thereby reinforcing US centrality in global financial networks and bolstering its geopolitical power through financial diplomacy, economic sanctions, regulatory influence, and control over critical financial infrastructure.The relationship underscores the infrastructural power of the Cayman Islands, whose financial and legal framework is essential for sustaining and amplifying US centrality.Consequently, this paper aims to integrate the transnational perspective on infrastructural power within the International Political Economy (IPE) and Geopolitics literature, demonstrating how the Cayman Islands function as a multifaceted networked site that strengthens, projects, and sustains US state power on a global scale

Business · Centrality · Electric power system · Physics · Power network · Computer Science · Global Financial Regulation and Crises · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs · State Capitalism and Financial Governance · Finance

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