Over the past two decades, the world has undergone a quiet but profound transformation, not through war or revolution, but through regulatory control. What began as a post 9/11 response to global terrorism has evolved into a far-reaching system of surveillance, compliance and behavioral control. It has been packaged as safety, transparency and convenience, but the result is clear. The average person is now more monitored, restricted and psychologically conditioned than ever before.
After the September 11 attacks, the United States launched a global campaign to uncover terrorist networks. It wasn’t just about military action, but also involved demanding access to intelligence data from governments worldwide. The logic was that another attack might be prevented if agencies around the globe shared what they knew. However, what followed was unprecedented. The US, and eventually global institutions, expanded their influence by shaping domestic security and financial protocols everywhere.
Financial institutions became the next frontier. In the name of national security, the US and global regulatory bodies pushed for expansive policies: Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), FATCA and others. These frameworks forced banks worldwide to hand over client data, flag transactions and report any activity that was once considered private. The USA PATRIOT Act expanded the role of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and imposed tighter controls that affected not just terrorists or criminals, but everyday individuals trying to move money or open accounts.
Although it was originally targeted at criminal elements, these policies now affect ordinary people who are routinely subjected to delays, denials and scrutiny. Not because they have done something wrong, but because the system itself treats everyone as a potential threat. The principle is so absurd, that if one person out of a million commits a crime, the other 999,999 must live under suspicion.
But it did not stop with banks. Encouraged and often funded by governments, tech companies developed tools to assist surveillance efforts like facial recognition, location tracking, keyword filtering and algorithmic behavior analysis. These technologies were presented to the public as breakthroughs in ease and efficiency. But beneath the polished marketing lay a darker truth.
They served the interests of state control, more so than consumer benefit.
In fact, innovations that show the potential to grow rapidly, often do so not only because of market demand, but because they provide data that serve intelligence or regulatory objectives.
The more an app, platform or fintech service aligns with surveillance infrastructure, the more likely it is to receive investment, exposure and strategic backing.
This model has been enthusiastically adopted and expanded by GCC countries. The UAE and Saudi Arabia have implemented sophisticated systems of social monitoring, digital ID integration and compliance technologies. But beyond domestic use, they are now actively exporting these systems to emerging Arab nations, offering them as “services” for modernization. In reality, this is a new form of regional expansionism. A soft-power strategy to export control under the guise of sharing expertise.
It mirrors the colonial model of the British Empire, but instead of colonizing land, today's powers colonize minds, shaping behavior through targeted information while harvesting personal data.
They do so with rules, codes and systems that shape how people think, act and interact. It is far cheaper and more scalable than traditional empire-building, and the returns are far more permanent.
The result? A global population slowly trained to behave predictably, speak cautiously and internalize surveillance. People self-censor not because someone told them to, but because they know they are being watched through financial transactions, surveillance monitoring, phone data, social media activity and physical movements.
Even the human experience has changed. The hospitality, retail and service sectors have lost their warmth and judgment. Staff follow scripts, not instincts. Decisions are made by policy, not by people. Younger generations entering the workforce have never known otherwise, and that is the most dangerous part.
Across every industry, it's about enforcing conformity and demanding compliance. Groupthink has replaced independent thought. Rules are made to avoid mistakes, not to encourage excellence. Systems punish error more swiftly than they reward initiative. Institutions now prefer algorithmic control over human trust. We are led, in fact we are herded, to communicate with machines and recorded voices to express our opinions or seek answers, all under the guise of serving everyone equally. We are told our voices matter: just press 1 to be ignored in 6 different languages. Unfortunately, what we get is an illusion of access, a loop of frustration, wasted time and a cold efficiency that lacks a human touch or human understanding.
And yet, we have all accepted this shift, not through force but through the illusion of convenience. We welcomed digital payments, biometric IDs and frictionless apps because they save us time and give us the illusion of security. But these so-called “efficiencies” have come at an enormous cost: the loss of privacy, dignity and the freedom to operate without being constantly profiled.
Even more, these economic systems are not neutral in any way. Once in place, they can easily be weaponized. If an individual challenges a dominant narrative, steps outside a government’s agenda or simply becomes inconvenient, the infrastructure is already there to apply pressure, restrict access or destroy credibility, often without due process.
We are trapped in a silent war between governments, corporations and tech empires, all fighting for control over how we think, what we do and who we become. This is no longer about serving the public. It is about using us. We are not just caught in the crossfire, we are the battleground and the prize.
So where do we go from here?
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