Assessing the Digital Hegemony

Abstract

Assessing the Digital Hegemony Daniel Keyser Abstract This paper seeks to answer whether there exists a global superpower in regard to control of the internet. This position, drawing upon the historical and political science related position of Hegemon, is explored further through the concept of Hegemony and its related ideas to form both a theory, that of Digital Hegemony, and methodology to address the question in an empirical case study of the United States of America and the People's Republic of China. The empirical argument is based off of the amount of traffic generated by nationally based companies, the amount of control over internet based architecture and infrastructure globally, and the development of future technologies linked to the internet. The empirical findings of this paper conclude that the United States of America has control of the internet through amount of traffic generated, and amount of architecture and infrastructure globally owned by nationally based corporations, but that this Digital Hegemony is being challenged by the People's Republic of China, especially in regard to future technologies linked to the internet, arguing that the United States must increase its investment and development into these industries either by government back programs or its corporations to maintain the...