What Lies Beyond Lies Within: Global Information Flows and the Politics of the State/Inter-State System

The potential impact of global information flows is commonly framed either by pointing to how these flows transcend the limits of and introduce us to a world beyond the sovereign state and the international system of states, or by showing how these flows are subordinated to the control and static presence of the state/inter-state system. In contrast, this article explores how information flows move beyond while simultaneously being forced within the limits of the state/inter-state system, in ways that highlight an important paradox shaping the politics and continuous reproduction of the state/inter-state system. Specifically, it demonstrates how the presence of the state/inter-state system depends upon a process of affirming as well as rejecting the possibility of a world of flows and networks located somewhere beyond the state/inter-state system.