Finding a Foreign Policy for the Internet

Justin Sherman and Trey Herr have an outstanding essay that clarifies the need for Washington and its allies to build a cohesive foreign policy for the Internet instead of simply opposing the strategies presented by competitors such as China.¹ Poignantly, they write:

Washington needs a foreign policy for the internet that advances a vision for the internet that speaks to the language of trust and embraces the need to focus on the role of individuals, grasps the utility of iterating small changes instead of grand bargains, and embraces the reality that the clock cannot be turned back. This strategic product must do more than reject the sovereign and controlled authoritarian internet model, based on principles of tight state control over internet data routing, tight state control over data storage, and limited content freedom. A foreign policy for the internet must build on not just U.S. government agencies but allies and partners overseas, and leverage the influence that the American tech industry has over internet infrastructure. It must realistically address the shortfalls and risks of a free and open internet but seek to maximize and revitalize that internet’s benefits—across everything from speech to commerce. A foreign policy for the internet should rest on three assumptions; there are myriad others but these three are systemically significant.

These strategies absolutely must be developed and cohere given the importance of the Internet for day-to-day life; the Internet underlies everything from trade coordination, military engagements, and is increasingly lifeblood for civic life or organizing. It is time for the West to make clear what it is for, and how it plans to navigate the challenges that the Internet has wrought, without succumbing to fear or abandoning the democratic principles which have undergirded the Internet and its composition for the last several decades.