The Rise of the Offshore World
2026-08-20
In this Conflicted Conversation, Ian Kumekawa (a fellow of Harvard University and a lecturer at MIT) talks about his book Empty Vessel: The Story of the Global Economy in One Ship.
Ian explains:
The offshore global economy: where loopholes, ships and responsibility slip beyond ordinary jurisdiction
From Little Toot to rusting barges: how industrial capitalism lost its confident postwar world
Sweden’s socialist shipyards, private tax dodges, and the strange birth of the Vessel
Containerisation’s hidden cost: how global trade hollowed out Manhattan’s working waterfront
The Falklands War, Thatcherism, and the private infrastructure behind imperial sovereignty
New York’s floating prison: mass incarceration meets offshore legal ingenuity
Wall Street goes offshore onshore: banks, deregulation and International Banking Facilities
Neoliberalism, legality and injustice: when the modern economy makes the immoral lawful
Visit Ian’s website: www.iankumekawa.com
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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.
Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.
Produced by Thomas Small and edited by Lizzy Andrews.
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CONFLICTED
Message Heard- No. of episodes
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- Latest episode
- 2026-10-15
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An ex-Al Qaeda jihadi turned MI6 spy and a former monk turned filmmaker, have been embedded at the heart of conflicts in the Middle East. Together Aimen Dean and Thomas Small unpack the realities of war, fundamentalism and their global implications through first-hand experience.