Information revolution technologies empower citizens anywhere to broadcast to the world infractions against their “inalienable rights” by their own government. Thus world pressure can be brought to bear against repressive regimes which can no longer hide their misdeeds as successfully as before … The priority of policies regarding international communication should be at least as high as the priority for foreign economic development and perhaps as high as that of some national security programs.
Predictor: Kedzie, Christopher
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 research presentation, Christopher Kedzie, then a doctoral fellow at RAND Graduate School, discussed democracy and new technologies. Prior to his arrival at RAND, he was a founder and director of organizations in both Ukraine and Uzbekistan which exploited information technologies to support economic and political reform. He writes: ”Information revolution technologies empower citizens anywhere to broadcast to the world infractions against their ‘inalienable rights’ by their own government. Thus world pressure can be brought to bear against repressive regimes which can no longer hide their misdeeds as successfully as before. That demonstrators in Tiananmen Square displayed signs written in English was not a coincidence. Cross-border communication in the defense of democracy and human rights is an activity on which citizen diplomacy groups like Amnesty International stake their success. The new technologies enhance these capabilities. The minimum policy implication … is that the effects of revolutionary information and communication technologies on the objectives of foreign aid and national security must be better understood, and the search for appropriate policy instruments is a critical aspect of further study. At a maximum, the priority of policies regarding international communication should be at least as high as the priority for foreign economic development and perhaps as high as that of some national security programs.”
Date of prediction: May 8, 1995
Topic of prediction: Global Relationships/Politics
Subtopic: Democracy
Name of publication: Internet Society
Title, headline, chapter name: Democracy and Network Interconnectivity
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.isoc.org/HMP/PAPER/134/html/paper.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney