A nice introductory paragraph points out that government interest in and reliance on information technologies (IT) is not new. The concluding sentence of that paragraph--“But just as governments affect the development of IT, so too does IT influence the development of governments”--sets both the tone and the position of the paper.

The widespread use and availability of IT have given individuals and governments alike a new perspective on how things are done. Communication no longer has geographical boundaries. The virtual elimination of those boundaries, which had been based on national borders, gives cause for concern--concern about the inability to control money and wealth and enforce taxation, which supports governments, and the inability to control the free flow of ideas, which often propagate significant changes in behavior. On the positive side, the free flow of information and ideas will make it more difficult for authoritarian and totalitarian governments to control the information their citizens receive; on the negative side, those who seek to control, manipulate, and destroy have ready access to the same channels.

The nation-states, however, are not “sublimating quietly, if at all.” They are still the primary players in international affairs and, as long as people live in a physical world, demands for a strong national government will probably persist. The growing IT-enabled power of nongovernmental entities has put additional demands on national governments. New laws have been enacted to provide privacy for individuals and data protection for businesses. Governments are striving to use the new technology to maintain their positions. They may, indeed, be able to “bootstrap” their control over the physical world into some control over the electronic one.

This paper is well written and interesting, and gives one pause for thought. I will be using it as a springboard for discussion in my new fourth-year undergraduate course titled “Social, Ethical, and Professional Issues.”