Rosenau J., Singh J. Information Technologies and Global Politics

Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2002. — 328 p.ISBN10: 0791452042
ISBN13: 978-0791452042Returning to the fundamentals of political science, namely power and governance, this book studies the relationship between information technologies and global politics. Key issue-areas are carefully examined: security (including information warfare and terrorism); global consumption and production; international telecommunications; culture and identity formation; human rights; humanitarian assistance; the environment; and biotechnology. Each demonstrates the validity of the view now prevalent within international relations research-the shifting of power and the locus of authority away from the state. Three major conclusions are offered. First, the nation-state must now confront, support, or coexist with other international actors: non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations; multinational corporations; transnational social movements; and individuals. Second, our understanding of instrumental and structural powers must be reconfigured to account for digital information technologies. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, information technologies are now reconstituting actor identities and issues.List of figures and tablesAcronyms
Important terms
Introduction: information technologies and the changing scope of global power and governance
Global networks and their impact
The changing scope of power
Public eyes: satellite imagery, the globalization of transparency, and new networks of surveillance
Informational meta-technologies, international relations, and genetic power: the case of Biotechnologies
The changing scope of power and governance
Circuits of power: security in the internet environment
The global political economy of wintelism: a new mode of power and governance in the global computer industry
New technologies and consumption: contradictions in the emerging world order
Governance in telecommunications
Capitalism, technology, and liberalization: the international telecommunications regime, 1865–1998
Understanding shifts in the form and scope of telecommunications governance: canada and the united states in the twentieth century
Negotiating regime change: the weak, the strong, and the WTO telecom accordInformation technologies and the skills, networks, and structures that sustainworld affairs
List of contributors