A Superpower Transformed (Again): Tariffs, Realism, Nixon, Neo-Isolationism, Bitcoin, DePIN, DePAI, and a Changing World

This report argues that the United States is undergoing a structural shift away from the neoliberal international order and toward a strategy of neo-isolationism, driven by the need to preserve relative power in the face of China’s rise. Drawing from realist theory and the historical precedent of the Nixon administration, the report outlines how the U.S. is prioritizing containment over global growth. This reversion includes reshoring manufacturing, accelerating the clean energy transition, and restricting technological flows, particularly in AI, to prevent espionage and maintain strategic advantage. In this environment, crypto emerges not as a tool of global integration but as a beneficiary of fragmentation. The report concludes that we are entering an era where power, not efficiency, will define economic policy, and in this new industrial paradigm, Bitcoin, DePIN, and DePAI are uniquely positioned to thrive.