Title: Eroded sovereignty or algorithmic nation? Transnational diffusion of blockchain in governance

Authors: Xiaoyu Lu; Hao Wu; Beini Liu

Addresses: School of International Studies, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China ' University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 2JD, UK ' Trade, Investment, and Innovation Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Bangkok, 10200, Thailand

Abstract: This paper explores the relationship between transnational non-state actors and sovereignty through the adoption of blockchain technology in governance. Governments have introduced a growing number of blockchain applications to reform state functions and authority mechanisms. Initial expectations for blockchain were to act as a disruptive and transformative force to decentralise state authority; however, this is only part of the real picture. The decentralising tendencies of blockchain technology appear in political spaces where state sovereignty is weakened or absent, particularly among displaced and stateless communities. Conversely, strong states use blockchain technology to upgrade their existing digital infrastructure to empower and reinforce state power. Thus, the diffusion of blockchain in governance leads to the birth of two opposite phenomena: 'eroded sovereignty' and 'algorithmic nation'. This paper presents the data-based illustration of the two-directional diffusion and analyse the motives, pathways and impacts of emerging technologies on the sovereignty-dominated and territory-based international order.

Keywords: blockchain; governance; state; sovereignty; diffusion; technology; decentralisation; international order.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEG.2021.121235

International Journal of Electronic Governance, 2021 Vol.13 No.4, pp.486 - 518

Received: 27 Jan 2021
Accepted: 01 Feb 2021
Published online: 01 Mar 2022 *

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