Western scholarship of eastern nations stopped calling itself Orientalism as the 20th century world passed into its post-colonial phase and the former colonies began to assert themselves politically and economically as part of a transformed global scene.
Internetism is passing by almost too rapidly to be observed as "the global village" takes shape, not as an earthly paradise but as an environment radically different from that previously rendered by the hot media. In Georgia, USA, the daily classified ads on the website of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution are already being typeset online in India.
The internet, although cool, is still in its infancy. As an extension of humanity it continues to change us independently of its content. As it develops, so will global contradictions tend to dialectically alter our values and the way we perceive ourselves and each other.
McLuhan developed a metaphorical tool, called the tetrad, for formally thinking through the repercussions of any object. a) What does it enhance or speed up? b) What does it replace? c) What does it bring back that was pushed out earlier? d) What does it flip into if pushed too far?
The internet enhances or speeds up trade. It replaces the real with the virtual. It brings back participation. If pushed too far it flips into some form of global government. The logical conclusion of the decreasing status of the nation state coupled with national governments' desire to control internet users may be leading to greater international co-operation supported by the next technological leap.
Today, I say that no nation in the world need be left out of the global system we are constructing... those of you who have graduated today will live global lives... - US Secretary of State Madelaine Albright, Commencement Address, Harvard, 5 June, 1997.