The Crisis of the State in the Digital Age

In this new video from CPD, Taylor Owen, Assistant Professor of Digital Media and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia and author of Disruptive Power: The Crisis of the State in the Digital Age, discusses the changing role of digital technologies in world affairs. Owen's April 16 talk was part of CPD's Conversations in Public Diplomacy. Highlights from the talk include the dual narratives of technology as a “liberation” tool and as a weapon in the “digital arms race;” the eroding boundaries between war and peace vis-à-vis surveillance and encryption software; and the risk that disruptive digital actors pose to both state interests and to the internet as space for creativity and communications. While this video reveals just how interconnected and interdependent states and publics have become on digital technologies, it also serves as a reminder that two-way dialogue and cross-cultural communication is an essential element of public diplomacy.