Communications in the Space Age

Abstract

Sweeping technological change combining the use of computers, satellites and other innovations is transforming the world. Domestic and international politics are vitally affected by these developments, particularly with respect to new communications systems. Although Canada is a highly developed country, it shares many of the problems encountered by the Third World in defending its cultural traditions and economy against the influences exerted by the rich and exuberant information technology of the United States. To deal with this situation, Canada has unilaterally developed certain cultural policies. But it has also engaged in bilateral arrangements with the United States, and it has been active in multilateral efforts to achieve international understanding, particularly with respect to the allocation of communications frequencies and slots for satellites. In these multinational dealings within the International Telecommunications Union, other UN agencies and UNESCO, Canada has, despite many affinities and friendship with the United States, usually taken a position somewhat different from that of the Americans; its interests have sometimes coincided with those of the Third World. This review of Canada's unilateral, bilateral and multilateral efforts to confront the new technology concludes that the best hope for all concerned lies in effective multilateral agreements, but it is not optimistic that results will be achieved quickly enough to prevent less universal practices from being implemented by states acting alone or in concert with only a few partners.