The International Political Economy of the Regulation of Digital Technology

Digital technology is seeping into every corner of society. As the pace of technological change accelerates over the next decade, digitalization is poised to impose profound changes on the international political economy. A new digital regime is evolving to govern these effects, although it is uncertain how this regime will develop amid tectonic shifts in governing establishments, world geopolitics, and the scope of economic globalization. A broad array of interests are contesting how digital governance will play out across the globe, from digital businesses big and small to politicians balancing security and economic growth objectives. Uncertainty predominates, but looking at previous historical instances where new technology demanded cross-border governance can reveal clues as to how a digital regime can take shape in a more sovereignty-oriented world.

In this report, Peter Cowhey, Dean and Qualcomm Chair Emeritus at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, explores the digital order that underlies transnational tensions over regulating digital technologies, finding that the contours of the emerging digital regime will depend on how policymakers thread the needle between national security and fostering innovation, a balancing act for which the outcome is currently unclear.