From Fallout to Reality: Imperial Psyops and the Erosion of Sovereignty
In the Fallout universe, Canada’s annexation by the US is a footnote in the imperial march toward global catastrophe. A resource-strapped America absorbs its northern neighbor to secure the Alaskan pipeline and prepare for war with China, ultimately leading to a nuclear apocalypse. At first glance, it’s dystopian fiction, but peel back, and it becomes something far more sinister. The game’s narrative operates like a psyop, conditioning audiences to see the erasure of borders and the subjugation of sovereignty as inevitable when resources are at stake. It’s imperial hubris wrapped in pixels, teaching players that empire-building, even at the cost of "allies", is just the way of the world.
Now step out of the game and into reality. Trump’s musings about Canada becoming the 51st state, purchasing Greenland, or retaking the Panama Canal are dismissed as “jokes.” But are they? These offhand remarks are the kind of subtle ideological work a psyop thrives on; normalizing the idea that sovereignty is expendable in the pursuit of power. In Fallout, the annexation of Canada was framed as a patriotic necessity, a way to secure North American stability. Today, Trump frames it as a win-win for Canadians who could enjoy “lower taxes” and “better military protection.” Same logic, different delivery. The underlying message remains: sovereignty is optional when America decides it is.
Greenland is the more chilling example. To the untrained ear, Trump’s talk of “buying” Greenland sounds like the ramblings of a man who doesn’t understand sovereignty. But dig deeper, and it becomes clear that Greenland, rich in untapped natural resources and strategically placed in the Arctic, is the crown jewel of the polar frontier. Trump’s quiet implication of using military means to secure it echoes the logic of Fallout: if you can’t buy it, take it. Greenland isn’t for sale, as Denmark firmly stated, but the mere suggestion softens resistance to the idea that territory can still be acquired in the 21st century, if not through negotiations, then by extortion (tarrifs) and lastly by force.
And then we have the Panama Canal, a vital artery of global trade and a symbol of U.S. imperialism in Latin America. Trump’s remarks about “reclaiming” the canal underscore a nostalgia for the days when DC's word was law in the Global South. For the U.S., the canal isn’t just infrastructure, it’s power. The treaties transferring control to Panama were supposed to mark a shift toward respecting Latin American sovereignty. But to the empire, agreements are tools of convenience, not principles. The Monroe Doctrine isn’t dead, it’s just been rebranded.
This is the brilliance of a psyop. By embedding these imperial ambitions in entertainment, the empire conditions the public mind to see them as natural, even inevitable. The annexation of Canada in Fallout and Trump’s flippant remarks about sovereignty share a common purpose: to normalize imperial overreach. Laugh it off, and the idea slips past the defenses of outrage. By the time the rhetoric turns into policy, the groundwork has already been laid. This is how empires have always worked, not with a frontal assault, but with a steady erosion of resistance until compliance feels like relief.
The irony is thick, Trump self proclaime champion of anti-globalism, couldn't be more aligned with globalism when it comes to his expansionist wet dream.
But the world is no longer buying it. The multipolar world, led by Russia, China, and an awakening Global South, is rewriting the script. They see the empire’s play for what it is: desperation. Sovereignty isn’t for sale, and the empire’s psyops, whether in video games or in Trump’s soundbites, are losing their grip. If Fallout was a story of inevitability, the rising multipolar world is one of resistance, a declaration that sovereignty is sacred and empire’s time is up.
Now the question isn’t whether the empire will fall, it’s when and how loudly the world will cheer when it does.
- Gerry Nolan
