Telecommunications Policy 21, no. 1 (1997):16. 65 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
interests and security (such as the containment of communism). The seemingly domestic policies had the potential to have an effect on and be affected by international relations. Multilateral Explanations of US Foreign Information PolicyActions in information and communications that have focused principally on domestic development give an indication of the rationale that the United States has given for its multilateral action as well. Possibly for this reason, it is information and communication policy in multilateral settings that has been the most problematic for the United States. In its relations with other countries, only at times has the United States been able to implement its policies. At other times it has been hindered and even prevented from doing so. Most multilateral attempts at US information policy do not appear until the 20th century and, even then, not until the latter half of that century. This could be simply because of the greater geographic separation of the United States from the rest of the world as well as internal attempts at political isolation throughout the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. It also may have been because information and communications issues were not at 66 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. the forefront of US international interests until then. There are two general arenas in which the United States has participated in bilateral and multilateral activities addressing information and communication issues: 1) international trade and 2) international organizations.26 International Trade The first category of international information interactions has taken place in the economic arena with trade of information content and technology. Over time, the United States has followed two paths: 1) the search for new markets in which to sell its products and 2) discussions with both cooperative and competitive governments about product standards and trade barriers. First, the search for new markets is a driving force in bilateral relationships. The US government often uses it as a rationale in bilateral telecommunications trade talks. 'Washington . . . ha[s] forced Japan and other key Asian economies to open up their markets to American and European goods and services after a series of bruising bilateral 26 Since there is obviously great overlap between the two as international trade is also addressed in international organizations, the distinction for this project is that international trade refers to bilateral negotiations that take place outside the rubric of an international organization. For example, some bilateral disputes may be addressed in the World Trade Organization after problems arise from initial one-on-one negotiations. 67 * Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
negotiations. Now the region's financial crisis has forced them to open their doors to foreign investment."27 In addition, because of the symbiotic relationship between private US companies and the US government, the government is active in promoting US interests abroad. Examples of this include: 1) testimonies before the US Congress in the telecommunications arena are very often composed of heads of private sector companies explaining that the US government can help them abroad and 2) many US businesses are invited to join US government representatives in international fora where the majority of other representatives are from other governments. What is deemed good for the United States is also deemed good for the rest of the world. Second, most discussions on a bilateral level have principally addressed trade barriers. A visible example is China's on-going quest to join the World Trade Organization. Though the discussions should be between China and the WTO itself, the debate has surfaced in bilateral talks between China and the United States. In fact, the United States has attempted to leverage China's desire to join the WTO into concessions during bilateral negotiations on telecommunications services and equipment. 27 'Global Momentum," Journal of Commerce, 7 July 1999, p. 7.
