CIAO DATE: 07/03

The Rise of Netpolitik: How the Internet Is Changing International Politics and Diplomacy
A Report of the Eleventh Annual Aspen Institute Roundtable on Information Technology

Introduction

This report asks: How are the Internet and other digital technologies changing the conduct of world affairs? What do these changes mean for our understanding of power in international relations and how political interests are pursued? Part I explores how the faster velocity of information and the diversification of information sources are complicating international diplomacy (sections A and B). The geopolitical and military implications of these changes are significant but poorly understood (sidebar).

Part II explores how the Internet is affecting cross-cultural and political relationships and elevating the importance of "soft power" in international affairs. The new global communications infrastructure of the Internet, films, television, and music represents a robust new arena for international dialogue and conflict. Coercive military and financial powers are tempered by considerations of soft power, such as the desire to assert national pride, persuade others of a cause's moral legitimacy, and sustain one's cultural values.

How do people express their values, identity, and culture? Part III examines one of the most universal human tools for doing so: storytelling. Conference participants generally agreed that the successful exercise of soft power requires an understanding of the "grand narratives" of different cultures. International diplomacy therefore may require new attention to the grammar of story construction and the perplexing ways that context, trust, and meaning are generated in an electronically networked world.

Full Text (PDF, 72 pages, 262 KB)