Source: Carnegie
For Immediate Release: January 29, 2003
Contact: Audrey Hoffer, 202-296-2426, Carmen MacDougall, 202-939-2319
New Carnegie Book Shatters Conventional Wisdom About Impact of the Internet on Authoritarian Rule
"...their findings chip away at the apocryphal notion that going digital necessarily means going democratic. Their work…frames a worthy challenge to those who wish to deploy technology for the cause of political openness." Jonathan Zittrain, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard
The link between technology and democratization is a powerful assumption in policymaking. Ronald Reagan's belief-that "the Goliath of totalitarianism will be brought down by the David of the microchip"-is widespread. Carnegie authors Shanthi Kalathil and Taylor Boas critically examine the impact of the Internet on eight authoritarian and semi-authoritarian regimes in their new book, Open Networks, Closed Regimes, and break apart this assumption.
Looking at China, Cuba, Singapore, Vietnam, Burma, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, they analyze Internet use by a range of political, economic, and social actors and examine its political impact. Their finding: the Internet is not necessarily a threat to authoritarian rule, especially in those countries where governments have been in charge of its development since the beginning.
Kalathil and Boas find that certain types of use do pose political challenges to authoritarian governments, which may contribute to future political change. Yet other uses actually reinforce authoritarian rule, and the leaders in some countries actively promote development of an Internet that serves state-defined interests rather than challenges them.
The authors will discuss their findings at an event aired LIVE on the web. Tune into www.ceip.org/live on Friday, January 31, 2003 at approximately 12:45 to listen. Audio also will be available on the web site after the event, along with excerpts and table of contents.
Shanthi Kalathil is an associate at Carnegie. Previously she lived in Hong Kong and was a staff reporter for The Asian Wall Street Journal. She has written extensively on the information revolution and political change in developing countries. Taylor C. Boas is pursuing a Ph.D. in political science at the University of California-Berkeley. Previously, he was a project associate at Carnegie.
Open
Networks, Closed Regimes by Shanthi Kalathil and Taylor C. Boas
Published by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, January 31, 2003, 218
pages
$18.95/paperback: ISBN 0-87003-194-5 (plus tax, shipping)
To order call: 1/800/275-1447 or 202/797-6258 or visit www.ceip.org/OpenNetworks
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