Shortwave broadcasting in a new world order: An historical examination of the influences of satellite radio and Internet radio on shortwave broadcasting since the end of the Cold War

From the application of shortwave frequencies to broadcasting in the 1920s until the last decade of the 20th century, international broadcasting was synonymous with shortwave broadcasting by state-run radio stations. For the bulk of this history of international broadcasting, such cross-border communication was developed, sustained, and refined in war—first the radio propaganda wars preceding World War II, then World War II, and finally the Cold War which dominated geopolitics for the better part of 40 years. With the emergence of other international communication media such as satellite broadcasting beginning in the 1960s, and the internet in the 1990s, the potential for the monopoly in practice and name of shortwave on international broadcasting has been ever present. Additionally, at the termination of the Cold War conflict, the social/political framework that had governed international broadcasting for nearly half a century was removed, thus creating the potential for additional revisions and mutations in the realm of international broadcasting. This project examines the first decade of state-sponsored international broadcasting following the end of the Cold War in order to document the changes that have taken place in international broadcasting. Specific attention is paid to the emergence of newer international broadcasting media through which international broadcasting has begun to be carried and received since 1991. Additionally, changes made, and challenges faced, by the state-run international broadcasters are examined and documented in order to better understand the evolution of international broadcasting at a time in history that may well mark the beginning of the decline of the nation state in the face of such changes in international broadcasting. It will be illustrated that with the advent of additional electronic media for international broadcasting which is increasingly becoming commercially driven, the nation state that emerged on the heels of the advent of the printing press is in the process of mutation and possible decline.