TARN is pleased to draw attention to The Rest and the West: Capital and Power in a Multipolar World, published by Verso Books, co-authored by TARN members Brett Neilson and Sandro Mezzadra. Deliberately inverting Stuart Hall’s formulation of “the West and the Rest,” the book offers a theoretically ambitious account of contemporary capitalism’s shifting political geographies. Moving beyond state-centric models, it introduces a set of original conceptual tools — most notably the notions of the “pole” and the “war regime” — to analyse the entanglement of capital, geopolitics, and violence in the present conjuncture. Rather than equating poles with states or geopolitical blocs, Neilson and Mezzadra show how poles constitute complex, overlapping configurations of power that link geoeconomic dynamics — trade, infrastructure, finance, and technology — with the exercise of political authority. The concept of “war regimes,” in turn, captures a pervasive militarisation of political and economic life that operates well beyond episodes of armed conflict.
An interview with the authors, conducted by Sowmya Maheswaran and published on 31 May 2026 by the International Research Group on Authoritarianism and Counter-Strategies (IRGAC), provides an accessible and timely introduction to these key concepts. Engaging with flashpoints including the US–China chip wars, American strategy in Latin America, and the ongoing crises in Ukraine and Gaza, the conversation demonstrates the framework’s analytical reach. The interview closes with a substantive reflection on struggle and organisation, articulating the need for a new internationalism that refuses campism and builds across transnational social movements. The full interview is warmly recommended to all within the TARN network.