Table of Contents

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1. Introduction

Two forces shape Civilization: Space and Information. The technologies that expand and control these realms determine the fate of the species. As John Perry Barlow foresaw, the Internet has produced a power that challenges traditional sovereignty by merging Space and Information on a planetary scale. This power is the Fifth Estate.

2. What is the Fifth Estate?

The Fifth Estate is a new power born from the rise of the Internet as a new geography of governance. It embodies the "planetary thinking" theorized by Yuk Hui, representing the Total Mobilization of Network Power to shape our world. It is sovereign, because it is immune from any single nation’s control, and upheld by the consent of its participants. This vast, decentralized system has yet to realize its full potential.

3. What does the Fifth Estate Want? To Be a New Oder.

We live in an interregnum; the Pax Americana is over, and powers like Russia, Iran, and China seek a multipolar world through violent means. A sweeping Polycrisis is precipitating the end of the post-WW2 system. The Fifth Estate, enabling individual, collective, and planetary coordination, offers a way out of this transition to a new order.

4. Visions of the New Order

Planetary governance is essential because it is already here. The end point of the Fifth Estate is to be a digital commonwealth integrated into a new architecture of global governance. By organizing and coordinating via the Network, Network Citizens will legitimize the Fifth Estate and lay the groundwork for a new order.

5. New World Genesis

The Fifth Estate must work with nation states to ensure a prosperous and peaceful planetary governance. This cooperation can address the Polycrisis and legitimize the Fifth Estate. Beyond technocratic internationalism and Sino-authoritarianism, the Fifth Estate offers a third way.

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