Information to users

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This monopoly on knowledge was again articulated in the mid-1970s in the United Nations in a different context, though the goal of the argument was similar: to show that control of communications is a critical component in the pursuit of political goals. The debate, called the New World Information and Communications Order (NWICO), encompassed such broad issues as the right of a sovereign nation to control the information which flows into and within its borders, the licensing of journalists, and cultural
imperialism. Because it had gained a position of leadership in the world and in the United Nations in both the military and economic spheres, the United States was able to take a strong and visible position. It actively worked against a new world information order by advocating the unfettered flow of information as a democratic principle. Others
opposed the US position, insisting on greater control within their own national borders and, especially, that the United States and other Western nations not interfere in these processes.
The nature of information. There is a second dimension
of relevance. More than just its relationship to politics, the nature of information is so all-encompassing that it underlies most parts of human existence in one form or
another.
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When people and organizations use the term
'information," they mean varying things, depending on
situation and context. Information can be understood as one - or a combination of more than one - of the following
ideas:9 1) data: empirical phenomena somehow recorded
through written, electronic, oral or other means; 2)
telecommunications, information services, including
telephone, data-transmission, cellular/mobile telephone, circuit and satellite, and 3) technology, information
equipment, including computers and other data-processing machines, phones/faxes/photocopying machines, media for reproducing image or sound, internal electronic components and semiconductors, (the physical apparatuses necessary for the collection, storage, retrieval and analysis of data); 4) communications: the sometimes physical and mostly
interpretive processes and channels through which data flow; and 5) knowledge: the application and correlation of the data, telecommunications, technology and communications processes with the environment or society.
At the end of 21st century, the United States has a
near-monopoly on the global flows of most of the components of information defined above. 'Recent discussion in the
9 The list is not exhaustive, but I believe most similar
terms may be reduced to these five. Also, these need to be
recognized as artificial distinctions for heuristic purposes. In reality, the categories overlap often and sometimes extensively.
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foreign policy literature suggest that the US's role as the world's superpower is on the decline. Much of this
discussion is based upon trade in industrial goods. . . . [HJowever, . . . the US is still the dominant nation based upon international communication. As the world moves into
the information age, it seems that US will solidify its position as world leader. It is the most central country in the international flow of information controlling the
world's channels of communication."10
By 1996, the United States had surpassed even Japan in
the production and export of telecommunications equipment; it is by far the largest exporter of movies, television programs and news; and there are more Internet web sites based in the United States than anywhere else in the world. Even when compared to Japan and the integrating European countries, the United States has demonstrated dominance both in the 'hardware," the physical capabilities of information and communication systems such as the construction and
distribution of fiber optic cable and the launching and control of satellites, as well as the 'software," the
information itself and the interpretation and structures of
10 George A. Barnett. *A Longitudinal Analysis of the
International Telecommunication Network: 1978-1996." Paper
presented at the Annual Conference of the International
Communication Association, San Francisco, May 1999, p. 25.
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that information, such as computer programs, television shows and news.
Despite the seeming relevance of information to
international political processes, it has not often been studied either in its global context or in its relationship to foreign policy making. There are two reasons for this. First, other issues - such as military/security and economic - have taken precedence. There are times when, though it is obvious that information and communications systems and processes are necessary (as with message transfers during military conflicts), the overt discussion of the use of information is postponed while policy makers address what they feel are more pressing concerns.
Second, the cultural implications of exporting
information and its related technologies are difficult to concretize. In other words, there is a thin line between leadership and dominance (sometimes referred to as cultural imperialism) in the information arena. 'The danger of
importing ways from the Western world . . . is real. The risk is that [others may] become alienated from their own culture, thereby ceasing to be themselves while at the same time not becoming thoroughly grounded in the scientific, philosophical, religious and other cultural roots of the West necessary to understand and apply its ways
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effectively."11 Thus, in this research, culture will refer to the values, attitudes and cultural artifacts (such as languages and icons) that may accompany the diffusion and interpretation of information content and its related
technologies.
This study attempts to address and understand these
obstacles and provide an explanation of what information means to US policy makers. To do so it will integrate some of the relevant concepts into the larger theoretical picture of foreign policy making and international relations.
11 F.S.C. Northrop. The Taming of the Nations: A Study of the