Divided by email

Indeed,the global pattern of communication appears to adhere largely to the fault lines predicted by the late political scientist Samuel Huntington in his book The Clash of Civilisations. Huntington identified culture and religion,rather than ideology or economic differences,as the primary drivers of ethnic conflict in times to come. The thesis criticised on arrival,and still controversial carved the world into culturally distinct civilisations,such as the West and the Middle East. According to States research,these divisions are at least partially valid in cyberspace. So,for instance,Orthodox-majority countries like Russia,Greece and Serbia have greater than average cross-country email rates.

But divvying the world into civilisational blocks is of limited use. The internet may not have bridged the cultural gap,but it does not follow that a lack of communication must necessarily lead to clash or conflict.