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Disruptive Power: The Crisis of the State in the Digital Age (Oxford Studies in Digital Politics) 1st Edition

by Taylor Owen (Author)

4.3 14 ratings

Part of: Oxford Studies in Digital Politics (49 books)

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Anonymous. WikiLeaks. The Syrian Electronic Army. Edward Snowden. Bitcoin. The Arab Spring. Digital communication technologies have thrust the calculus of global political power into a period of unprecedented complexity. In every aspect of international affairs, digitally enabled actors are changing the way the world works and disrupting the institutions that once held a monopoly on power. No area is immune: humanitarianism, war, diplomacy, finance, activism, or journalism. In each, the government departments, international organizations and corporations who for a century were in charge, are being challenged by a new breed of international actor. Online, networked and decentralized, these new actors are innovating, for both good and ill, in the austere world of foreign policy. They are representative of a wide range of 21st century global actors and a new form of 21st century power: disruptive power.

In Disruptive Power, Taylor Owen provides a sweeping look at the way that digital technologies are shaking up the workings of the institutions that have traditionally controlled international affairs. The nation state system and the subsequent multinational system were founded on and have long functioned through a concentration of power in the state. Owen looks at the tools that a wide range of new actors are using to increasingly control international affairs, and how their rise changes the way we understand and act in the world. He considers the bar for success in international digital action and the negative consequences of a radically decentralized international system. What new institutions will be needed to moderate the new power structures and ensure accountability? And how can governments and corporations act to promote positive behavior in a world of disruptive innovation? Owen takes on these questions and more in this probing and sober look at the frontier of international affairs, in a world enabled by information technology and increasingly led by disruptive innovators.

With cutting edge analysis of the fast-changing relationship between the declining state and increasingly powerful non-state actors, Disruptive Power is the essential road map for navigating a networked world.

ISBN-10

0199363862
ISBN-13

978-0199363865
Edition

1st
Publisher

Oxford University Press
Publication date

April 1, 2015
Part of series

Oxford Studies in Digital Politics
Language

English
Dimensions

1.1 x 6.2 x 9.3 inches
Print length

264 pages
See all details

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Disruptive Power: The Crisis of the State in the Digital Age is an objective assessment of digital politics by 'track two' actors of international relations, where the author
provides information rather than taking sides. Owen's work stands out as scientific, valid and well-documented." --The Hague Journal of Diplomacy

"The 21st century state is using new technologies both to serve and protect citizens and also to control them. Citizens are using the same technologies to fight back. Taylor Owen's analysis is the one you want to read on this battle and the way it will shape the 21st century." --Michael Ignatieff, Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice, Harvard Kennedy School

"Cyber technology has led to disruptive power in the form of hackers like Anonymous and crypto-currencies like Bitcoin. How should states respond? Taylor Owen offers a provocative analysis and recommendations." --Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Harvard University, author of The Future of Power

"In Disruptive Power, Owen gives us a tour of the digital challenges to the nation-state, from newly flexible protest groups like Occupy and Anonymous to the rise of algorithms as weapons, often in the hands of non-state actors and often targeting civilian life. He weaves these observations into a forcefully argued thesis: the model of a world governed by stable nation-states is in crisis, forcing most state-led institutions into a choice between adaptation and collapse." --Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations

"Taylor Owen gives us an incisive set of reflections on the ways in which the decentralized, collaborative, and resilient power of digital networks is undermining the state's ability to govern. Even more disturbing is the resulting existential dilemma for democratic states: the best way to fight back is to become a surveillance state. Disruptive Power does not provide answers, but it poses important and unsettling questions." --Anne-Marie Slaughter, Professor Emerita of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University, and Director of Policy Planning, U.S. State Department, 2009-2011

"This important read that takes the reader through the effects of digital technologies in recent history will engage those interested in current events, political science, and digital technologies." --Library Journal

Book Description

A sweeping look at the way that digital technologies are shaking up the workings of the institutions that have traditionally controlled international affairs

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (April 1, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 264 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0199363862
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0199363865
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.07 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 1.1 x 6.2 x 9.3 inches

Customer Reviews:
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Peter K

A great read

Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2015

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An excellent account of how things have changed - and how they are bound to!
Great read - well-written.

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Gderf

Effect of digital decentralization of information on traditional power structure

Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2016

Digital communication technology is affecting the global political power structure, causing changes that create a great deal of uncertainty as to just who holds power especially regarding the new relevance of government authority and control. Owen is fairly convincing in citing a crisis of government in the digital age. He puts some modern detail on the observation of Reinhold Niebuhr that incorporation of science and technology into politics leads to instability. He suggests that digital technologies are threatening the workings of familiar institutions that have traditionally controlled international affairs. It examines the relevance of Anonymous, WikiLeaks, Edward Snowden, Bitcoin, Syrian Rebels, Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street and the German Pirate Party along with other anonymous groups and the algorithmic tools that they use. Areas affected include war, diplomacy, finance, human rights activism, and especially journalism. In each area the controlling authority is faced with a changing operating environment where power is shifting from few to many. The nation state system and the subsequent multinational system were founded on a concentration of power in the state, now being threatened.
A more appropriate title might be 'Distributed Power.' The disruptive element is corollary, an extension of the idea that the Internet is the new weapon of war. The idea of gathering massive data flow from a plethora of sources into a useful whole is not as new as Owen indicates. It used to be called 'data fusion.'
It's an interesting study of balancing good and bad, while sometimes hard to tell the difference. Democracy is protection from governance, but if the B of R failed us the failure of the Internet is not surprising. There are more questions than answers. There is lot's of food for thought rather than a rational analysis and the conclusions are suspect. Anonymous society hacking, like users of TOR, provide potential threats with decentralized, al-Qaeda like, lack of organization for governments and industry to come to grips with.
The book is organized into three main theses: One, liberation technologies involve new actors and a new layer of power with no leadership formulas. The new structure is based on decentralized nodes that survive failure of any central organization. Traditional command and control systems are no longer stable, enabling collective action by dissenters. Second is the digital arms race where Edward Snowden showed the asymmetrical nature of the current control of information and surveillance. Owen advances the idea that Snowden has done us a service, recognizing NSA revelations threaten participatory democracy as well as traditional business models. He advocates scaling back the surveillance state. In my opinion Snowden has far exceeded his authority as a self appointed protector of clarification rights, damaging a legitimate government function of classified diplomacy.
Third is what the author calls algorithmic violence characterized by Palantir, developed by Peter Thiel, Google Ventures and military robotics programs. It involves big data, predictive power, robotics used to kill, automating autonomous war and blurring the lines between war and peace. Use of big data theoretically brings more clarity. Governance is becoming embedded into algorithms. The whole effect gives more power to dissent and deviation. As algorithms replace traditional command and control methods of behavior control, government and financial institutions designed to bring stability are no longer effective. Robotics is a prime example of lethal use of algorithm driven applications. We see a new meaning of 'killer app.' An economic example is Bitcoin, an algorithm driven money system immune to government inflation.
Who protects us from our protectors in this newest version of the protection racket? It provokes a crisis of the state in that there is no further need of the command and control paradigm with it's state monopoly. The state now has a choice between control or uncertainty. Governments must exercise control or accede to loss of power by self regulating disruptive organizations. Owen sees the US opting for the former. Governments have lost their monopoly on control of collective action. Owen looks at the tools that hacking technology is developing to increasingly control international affairs, and how they affect our world view. He points to the negative consequences of a radically decentralized international system. He asks what are governments and corporations doing to counter this disruptive innovation? Counter actions that states are doing undermine the free expression that makes the Internet so beneficial.
The most clearly overt political movement associated with the digital revolution is that of the German Pirate Party with a platform of anti-government regulation of digital communication. The party received 1.45% of the national vote and actually returned an MP in the European parliament. Just to muddy the water the party also favors progressive income distribution. The book doesn't mention a Pirate Party in the US, which has not attained prominence in the current election campaign. Except for the Pirate Party most of the disruptive influences cloak their operations in anonymity.
Owen concludes by saying that the lesson of the digital age is that successful adaptation requires organizations structure themselves, including the ways that knowledge is produced, disseminated and implemented. Is it any use to us private individual readers? Can we protect ourselves or will we be victimized as usual? The book leaves me with the uneasy feeling that I am failing to adapt to this new environment. Can Mr. Owen or anyone else tell me what to do about it? Must I join Anonymous, or have I already done so without knowing it? It's a great excuse for government retaliation reminiscent of Mitchell and McCarthy. The book is a marvelously fresh study with conclusions that are somewhat suspect. While the book is very convincing of the dangers from these anonymous actors, I am still more afraid of the still ever expanding scope of government power. Owen makes the reader think about the question of the extent of legitimate power of government. I don't think there is an answer here.

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Katherine Taberner

The future will be fascinating.

Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2015

If you believe the world has moved from the hierarchal, exclusive Industrial Era to the inclusive Information Era this book is for you……and if you do not yet believe this, Owen will convince you this is our reality. He expertly weaves together the role of technology as it pertains to our lives as individuals and as a community, moving into the nation state and global perspectives. He provides us with an overview of the technological advances that are in practice today and what can be expected in the future. He connects technology to our economic and political systems in a way that is thoughtful and helps one (who knows little about technology) begin to understand our current state and appreciate what we may expect in the future. The subject matter is complex and he writes in a way that is easy to grasp and his ability to connect the dots is clear and easy to understand. A must read for anyone who is interested in appreciating what is going on in our world today and what can be expected in the future.

3 people found this helpful

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fdoamerica

Digital Technology has not just leveled the playing field but redefined the game.

Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2015

Brilliant! One of the best books I have read in 2015. Nothing less than seminal in his treatment of institutional power and how digital technologies has, is and will transform these powers. Not just governments, but corporations and institutions will be either transformed or tossed out. Read this book along with Glenn Greenwald's "No Place to Hide".

2 people found this helpful

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Emily Blake

This book is an in-depth exploration of changes occurring in ...

Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2015

This book is an in-depth exploration of changes occurring in the international system as a result of technologies and social communication. It includes history, economics, political science, and development theory. Thoroughly researched and very detailed, this book is a must read for anyone interested in the fate of the international system in the digital age.

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