IP: Nationalism, sovereignty & the nation-state in cyberspace

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 11:57:51 -0400
To: farber () cis upenn edu (David Farber)
From: "Richard J. Solomon" <rsolomon () dsl cis upenn edu>
Subject: nationalism, sovereignty & the nation-state in cyberspace

as I have said before, the U.S. is the oldest nation on the planet, and it has a lot to do with the parallel 
developments of communications and the industrial revolution: 

"Nations are much younger than their official histories would have us believe. No nation in the modern, that is 
political, sense of the word existed before the ideological revolution that began in the 18th century and conferred 
political power on "the people". From that time on, the nation was conceived as a broad community united by a link 
different in nature both from allegiance to the same monarch and from membership of the same religion or social estate. 
The nation no longer derived from the ruler. It was henceforth independent of the contingencies of dynastic or military 
history. This powerfully subversive concept opened the way for entry into the age of democracy; but if it was to 
succeed, the future had to be justified in terms of loyalty to the past "


from a fascinating article at: 

http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/06/?c=05thiesse </blockquote></x-html>