By A journalist’s account of a parallel universe that has become a haven for the rich and powerful. Shows that beneath the world we think we know is another that been engineered into existence, consisting of thousands of extraterritorial zones that operate largely autonomously, and increasingly for the benefit of the wealthiest individuals and corporations. Traces the rise of this hidden globe to thirteenth-century Switzerland, where poor cantons marketed their only commodity: bodies, in the form of mercenary fighters. Over time, economists, theorists, statesmen, and consultants evolved ever more sophisticated ways of exporting and exploiting statelessness, in the form of free trade zones, flags of convenience, offshore detention centers, charter cities controlled by foreign corporations, and even into outer space. By mapping this counter-geography — which decides who wins and who loses in the new global order—helps readers see how it might be otherwise. Read more.