From circulating liberalism to tech nationalism: U.S. soft power and Silicon Valley

ABSTRACT The global internet was originally shoe-horned into making a U.S.-led international order in the post-Cold War. Soft power enthusiasts and the early architects of the global internet worked closely to turn global connectivity into a civilizing mission. Around the 2010s, the State Department embraced ‘internet freedom’ as a soft power strategy when U.S. dominance was challenged by global and regional counter-hegemons. I argue that the ‘tech Cold War’ is not new. But the emerging narrative aims to bolster the reputation of the U.S. government and the tech industry’s corporate power, thereby hoping to restore U.S. leadership in internet governance.