Netpolitik
: Instapundit and I both blogged this Times of London column about a new world order that begins now. All the old alliances are out-of-date — the U.N. cut off its own arms and legs; NATO’s job is done; America and Britain “reconcile,” in Blair’s word, their relationships with Europe; Russia plays with France and Germany and will live to regret it; Eastern Europe comes into its own; the Middle East is up for grabs; America sees a global role for itself…
Change is unsettling and this is big change.
It needs a name, this momentous new era of ours. It’s not a cold war. It’s not ostpolitik or realpolitik.
It’s all about alliances of convenience and need and the moment.
It’s a world that starts to look like an Internet router, which finds the best route for the moment and then forgets it and finds the best route the next time.
This is the era, then, of what:
Network diplomacy?
: Alex proposes Neopolitik in the comments. (But what I really like in his comment is my new nickname: Buzz.)
: A variant: Netpolitik. It’s all about networks and networks change; they plug into and out of each other. I’m liking that one: The era of netpolitik. Nice ring, eh?
