This book examines one of the central paradoxes of contemporary global politics: why does a governance system that has contributed to maintaining a stable, interoperable, and globally connected internet remain persistently contested by both authoritarian challengers and democratic partners? Addressing this question, it develops a novel framework for understanding the evolution, resilience, and contestation of the U.S.-led multistakeholder model of internet governance.

The book conceptualizes the multistakeholder model as a U.S.-led governance order that emerged through the construction of technological infrastructures, institutional arrangements, and normative frameworks that enabled global coordination of cyberspace. It traces how this order evolved through the establishment of critical internet institutions, the diffusion of governance norms, and the consolidation of legitimacy through institutional reforms and multistakeholder participation.

The main themes include the politics of internet governance, digital sovereignty, legitimacy and authority in global internet governance, technological competition, and the relationship between infrastructure and political order. The book argues that contestation to the US emerges not simply from external geopolitical rivalry, but from internal dynamics embedded within the governance order itself. The same institutional arrangements and normative assumptions that contributed to stability and expansion also generated legitimacy deficits, asymmetries of authority, and forms of exclusion that continue to produce political friction.

This book offers new insights into power, legitimacy, and institutional change in cyberspace. It targets scholars of international relations, internet governance, cybersecurity, digital politics, and policymakers engaged in technology governance and digital diplomacy. 

Enescan Lorci is a researcher specializing in cyber governance, emerging technologies, and international security. He earned his Ph.D. in Social Sciences from the Institute of China and Asia-Pacific Studies at National Sun Yat-Sen University in Taiwan, where his research focused on the intersection of technology, geopolitics, and global governance.