iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sam Olsen @samolsen.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

In 2025, I published Polycrisis 2027, warning that multiple geopolitical/economic/tech shocks could overwhelm govts & businesses. With the Iran war, we’ve updated the report. Our conclusion: the polycrisis has begun. Read more in my new States of Play essay:

open.substack.com

The Polycrisis Has Begun

Our updated Polycrisis 2027 report argues that the era of converging crises is no longer a future scenario but an emerging reality

000

Sam Olsen @samolsen.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

The Changing World in Figures No. 1 - 74% 74% of UN member states now publicly affirm that Taiwan is part of China. As Trump and Xi meet this week, this reveals how much of the world is moving closer to China than the US, & not just on Taiwan. #statesofplay

open.substack.com

74%: The Changing World in Figures #1

As Trump and Xi meet, one statistic reveals how the world is increasingly split between the West and the Rest, the latter with China as their champion

010

Sam Olsen @samolsen.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Today - the 2nd of my twin essays on the new fracture reshaping global politics. As the West argues over sovereignty and globalism, its coherence - the foundation of post-war order - is breaking apart. And China is stepping into the vacuum. substack.com/@samolsen/no...

substack.com

Sam Olsen (@samolsen)

My new post today is the second of two essays exploring the great fracture reshaping Western politics and power. Last week’s piece traced the rise of sovereigntists versus globalists across the US a...

010

Sam Olsen @samolsen.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

Trump met Putin in Alaska to “end the war.” But Putin isn’t playing today’s game. He’s playing the game of 1914 — empire, spheres of influence, and small nations treated as objects, not subjects. 🧵

100

Sam Olsen @samolsen.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

In States of Play I talk to @keirgiles.bsky.social about what Putin (and by extension, Russia) really wants, including a return to Russia's imperial past. But how successful are the West's efforts to resist this, and what next for Russia and Europe? samolsen.substack.com/p/what-does-...

samolsen.substack.com

States of Play podcast Episode 5: What Does Putin Actually Want?

Understanding the big picture of Russia's aggression

292

Sam Olsen @samolsen.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

Episode 1 of States of Play drops tomorrow, asking what a world order actually is open.substack.com/pub/samolsen...

010

Sam Olsen @samolsen.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

I have news: today I am launching States of Play, a new podcast on understanding the changing world order open.substack.com/pub/samolsen...

open.substack.com

Introducing States of Play

A new Substack on understanding the changing world order

020