[governance] "US Exceptionalism" (was Re: Bloomberg - The Overzealous Prosecution...)

[Norbert Bollow]

John Curran wrote:
> On Jan 19, 2013, at 6:18 AM, Riaz K Tayob <riaz.tayob at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>   [The Panglossian world of US Exceptionalism.... of course these
> matters are discussed and debated, but dare to do anything about it
> and then those will be put in their place, or no?]
>
> A very good question; I personally don't subscribe to a view of US
> Exceptionalism
> (that's likely because I've travelled a bit and can more readily
> make comparisons),

[With IGC Coordinator hat on]

The "US exceptionalism" discussion is one that has been going around
in circles on this list for a while. At the same time I would suggest
that it is an important issue in the sense that it is deeply linked to
concerns and fears that hinder progress on many substantive topics of
Internet governance. I propose that in order to start making a bit more
progress towards a common understanding, it will be helpful to discuss
what is a reasonable set of complementary categories.

For example, we might attempt to use the following two categories of
viewpoints:

"demand of equality among governments in information society governance"
- the view that all national governments should have same kind of roles
  or not in Internet governance and global information society
  governance in general. 

"acceptance of US exceptionalism in information society governance"
- the view that it is acceptable for the US government to have some
  special role(s) or power(s) in Internet governance and global
  information society governance in general.

Is this a reasonable categorization of viewpoints?

Or would it bring more clarity to introduce three or more complementary
categories?

Does someone here have an opinion that fits neither of the two
categories proposed above?

Greetings,
Norbert

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