Non-state Actors And International Relations In The Web2.0Era

If arrange the greatest inventions in the20thcentury, the computer and theInternet will be on the top. The first computer was built in1946and ARPANETfirst ran in1969. After that, the Internet only took half a century to develop intoa ubiquitous network which links the whole world. Compared with othertechniques like the printing, its speed is rare in history. In decades, thetransmission mode changed from copper to fiber then to wireless; Terminalequipment developed from mainframe to PC and laptop then to smart phone;Social networks and other complicated services emerged quickly. What’s mostis that Web2.0imposes on international relations and world economy. Thisarticle does not adhere to the technology determinism, but admits that thedevelopment of key techniques will change some factors of internationalrelations and then promotes the transformation of the structure. Therefore, theauthor hope to explore the ways which Web2.0techniques affects theinternational relations, what responses will the actors take and what featureswill the international relations show up.In order to achieve that, this article will give up the state-centeredperspective and analyze how the non-state actors impact the internationalrelations in the Web2.0era. Because the states have no longer been the onlyor the most important actors and non-state actors have become an significantvariable in international relations with the help of Web2.0techniques. In thefuture, non-state actors will play an important role in the development ofinternational relations. But for now, they have not been paid attention to. Hence,this article will analyze the change of non-state actors and its impact oninternational relations in the Web2.0era.The article will adopt the analytic hierarchy process and build3levels--the internal structure of states, the international community and theinternational system. On the first level, non-state actors have become a guideand a force to promote the civil society. In turn, the civil society has been apower source of non-state actors. Both of them pose a challenge for thegovernment authority. On the second level, the contradictions and conflicts may rise, especially in the cyberspace. However, the factors that maintainpeace and cooperation, such as interdependence, collective security andinternational regime, still exist. On the third level, the state has not been theonly type of unit and power has scattered from great power to ordinarycountries, from states to non-state actors, which means the internationalsystem will change.To sum up, geotechnology, geopolitics and geoeconomics will drive theinternational relations together; non-state actors will become one of thesignificant roles on the world stage in the Web2.0era; states will compete andcooperate with them in many areas. In short, a multiple-center time will come.