International power and international communication

Alleyne argues that there are really two types of power related to communication in global politics: the power of communication and the power of information. Ownership of mass media networks gives the proprietors the power of communication, but the ability to gain followers for some ideas (such as universalist notions of human rights) is really about a separate concept, the power of information.

He refines this argument in separate chapters on global news flows, the international trade in cultural products (films, television programs, advertising, recorded music, periodicals and books), and government propaganda activities. By analysing the foreign policies of small and large states and the politics of such organisations as UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) and the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) Alleyne explains how communications technologies and the rules for using them have been used strategically in global politics.

But he also shows, through special attention to the 'pull' factors in small states, how inequalities in global communication cannot be described as mere cases of 'cultural imperialism'.