Launching into cyberspace : Internet development and politics in five world regions

When one sets out to explore the impact of the Internet on in international relations, two rather extreme positions stand as outposts that circumscribe the literature. One is the argument what the Economist once called the "founding myth" of the Internet that it was created by people acting outside the control of governments and international order and would in the future not be subject to the old laws of nations states and previous rules of trade and diplomacy. In an article that describes many elements of this position, Neil Munro summarized the argument as follows: In cyber space, borders and national sovereignty lose meaning, and the individual reigns. The sovereign power of nations states and national governments rose in lockstep with artillery and the Industrial Revolution and will probably shrink as the age of mass production is supplanted by the information powered age of catalogued, customized, cross border consumerism. For decades, nation-states have been losing autonomy on the big issues of war and wealth because democracy, international trade, global financial markets, and the spread of conventional and nuclear weapons have all eroded their power. Over the next few years, the Internet will restrict their sovereignty in the not so big things taxes, regulation and public expectations.