The Stack: Anatomy of Enforcement

By Russell Parrott

Power is enforced through infrastructure. Access is conditional. Alignment is assumed.

The Stack: Anatomy of Enforcement is a field manual for the post-sovereign world - where nations no longer control the systems they run on, and compliance is enforced silently through cloud, chips, models, and APIs.

This book exposes how the world is already governed - not by laws or treaties - but by who owns the stack. It shows why neutrality is obsolete, why diplomacy now routes through access control, and how the system decides who gets to execute and who fades into runtime irrelevance.

It’s not a theory. It’s already live.

Read it before the next blackout.

Power no longer persuades.
It grants - or revokes - access.

This book is the missing manual for understanding how the system really works.

  • “The Art of War for the cloud era - except Sun Tzu never had to worry about Elon Musk turning off his satellites.”
    Early reader review
  • "The Stack: Anatomy of Enforcement doesn’t predict the future. It documents the system already running beneath us. Read it if you want to stay operational."
    Independent strategist, London
  • "Finally - a book that explains why power today doesn’t need permission. It just needs access control. Clear, ruthless, essential."
    Former cybersecurity advisor, Washington D.C.
  • "This isn’t a theory book. It’s a survival map. If you want to understand how nations, corporations, and individuals lose power silently, start here."
    Policy researcher, Brussels
  • "Parrott’s work pulls the curtain back. Infrastructure is the new battlefield - and most governments don’t even realise they’re losing."
    Infrastructure analyst, Singapore
  • "Unfunded. Unfiltered. Uncomfortably real. The Stack: Anatomy of Enforcement is the first book I’ve read that treats infrastructure as power, not plumbing."
    Systems architect, Berlin
  • "I thought I understood geopolitics. Then I read The Stack: Anatomy of Enforcement. Now I understand runtime geopolitics - and why alignment is the real weapon."
    Global risk consultant, Dubai

About the Style

This isn’t a traditional narrative.

The Stack: Anatomy of Enforcement is deliberately thin, fast, and strategic.
No filler. No exposition. No padded chapters.

Each section is built like a field manual entry:

It’s written to be read fast - and referenced often.
You won’t find academic hedging or theoretical debate.
You’ll find enforcement logic, runtime examples, and system truths.

This isn’t a book that tells you how to feel.
It shows you how the system moves.

If you're expecting a 400-page analysis, you’ll be surprised.
If you're looking for clarity before collapse - you’re in the right place.