Review

In this review, I will refer to the article “Launching into Cyberspace: Internet Development and Politics in Five World Regions” which I have chosen in the seminar. The article is published by the Canadian Journal of Communication.
The article is written by Marcus Franda, it is a short review about his book China and India online: Information technology politics and diplomacy in the world’s two largest nations. This book was published 2002 by Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
I have chosen this article, because I am very interessted in the politics world wide and especially in the relations between the industrialized countries and the Third World. My opinion is that the industrialized countries are exploing the Third World. So I was anxious to read this article. After reading this article it seems that my point of view is correct.

This article is about a book from Marcus Franda who researched the internet development world wide.
His focus aimed on the local culture and the world politics in combiniation with internet.

Based on a wealth of primary sources, like case studies, statistical datas and secondary materials such as interviews, articels, etc. Franda shows the complex of problems in the field of internet development world wide concerning the coherence of development, politics and economy.


One significant point is the different use of internet in the various regions and countries all over the world. Another significant point is the understanding of the different kind of handling with internet , requires familarity world wide.

Franda argues in his book about problems of different cultures, the gap between poor and rich countries, the political systems of the regions in connection to internet.

The result of the research shows that internet does not close the gap between North and south, but rather it is widening this gap, because it has enabled some nations to create sources of wealth and of international diplomatic and political power relative to others.

Reasons for this are the different infrastructures, different cultures, religions and gouvernments in the different countries.

Franda’s book is principally concerned with following questions about the internet:

Of what benefit will this new regime and governance at the international level be to the developing
countries?
Could this emerging regime minimize inequalities?
If the approximately 94 countries under review in this book “are experiencing the use of the Internet by elite minorities representing a fairly narrow spectrum of political discourse relative to local context”, who is
representing the public interest of citizens in this international negotiated space?
Could the voice of these “marginalized” countries be heard in the decision-making process on issues that could
indirectly or directly affect their space in the information highway?

In his book Franda tries to answer these questions due to his examination with that theme and the results of his analysis.


This book is a very good exemplar for those who were interessted in our discussion in the course about the different infrastructures for internet in the world. As it was shown on the map, that the most infrastructures for internet are in North America, Europe, and in Asia (China, Japan and India) but in South America and Africa there is only a sporadic internet access.

It is also very interessting, that it is shown how intense are the differences in the world, conncerning politics and cultures.

One major problem for the internet connection world wide is the poverty in the Third World countries. Most important for the developing world is that they can stop diseases (like aids) and to stop dearth, but not to create a network for internet access.

A central issue are the different regimes world wide and for me it appears that it is impossible to create a network world wide.

My position is, that this article/ book and the research about this theme is very absorbing and it opens a new field for the researcher sector. But first of all, isn´t it more important first to aid the Third World in other areas than in the internet section?

If we think about most of the problems that the population of the Third World or for example the Irak has, so it seems that the internet connection is the least problem. At the G 8 meeting, the politicians decided to support the Third World with billions of dollars but does anyone know how this billions of dollars are spent for the Third World and if it would be spended in the right way, for food and pharmaceuticals.

In the article was also written, that the missing internet connection impaded an economical revival in the Thrid World, but this is not my opinion. First of all the Third World must be developed in other kinds like the infrastructur for example. Because if the infrastructur in the Third World is not equal to the industrialized countries, the Third World has no chance for economical revival.

A friend of mine who is travelling a lot around in the world told me that in Ghana for example there are many aid camps and the volunteers in this camps help to seed corn. After the corn is grown, the volunteers are leaving the camp. The volunteers believe, that the population now tries to seed corn by themself. But the people who life there, know that the volunteers come back or another organisation will come to help seeding, so the people there do not work on the field to recieve a large yield.

So before the Third World starts to create a network for internet many other more important problems should be solved!