High Desert Institute

Institute Lore

The history, context, and terminology of the High Desert Institute.

Lore Style Guide

Guidelines for writing and maintaining the lore of the High Desert Institute, ensuring consistency in tone, structure, and terminology.

Second Corporate War: Banana-Republic

The era where firms captured states to serve as proxies for resource extraction, using coups and private security to maintain control.

First Corporate War: Charter-Colonial

The era where corporations acted as quasi-states by charter, controlling sea lanes and resources through company navies and monopoly rights.

Third Corporate War: Neoliberalism

The era where firms ruled by standards, supply chains, and finance, enforcing market access and privatization through systemic coercion.

Corporate Wars

The four eras of corporate warfare, from Charter-Colonialism to Technofeudalism, defining conflicts where firms act as primary strategic actors to secure market control, resources, and enclosed ecosystems.

Fourth Corporate War: Technofeudalism

The current era of digital enclosure where identity, attention, and compute are the new land, and firms control the means of participation.