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Objectives. The goal of this research is to examine the role of modernization (i.e., structural conduciveness) in the form of income, telephone price and structure, education, and political structures, and global contact in the form of world cities, trade, investment, activities of international nongovernmental organizations, and short-term exchanges of population in driving the worldwide diffusion of the Internet. Methods. We use longitudinal regression analyses (1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000) of change in Internet hosts for approximately 80 developing countries. Results. The analyses suggest that foreign investment, major urban agglomerations, manufacturing exports, nongovernmental organization presence, and tourism as well as democratic openness, property rights, and income predict Internet diffusion during the time period under investigation. Conclusions. We conclude that indeed both conduciveness to Internet technology as well as globalization (contact) are important factors in the diffusion of the Internet.

We evaluate the argument that Islamist terrorist attacks represent a distinctive "4`" wave" of transnational terrorism that has supplanted Leftist terrorism. Drawing on ITERATE data for 1968-2003, the annual count of Leftist attacks has declined since the end of the Cold War while Islamist attacks have persisted and spiked upward in 2002-03. Pooled cross-sectional time-series regression demonstrates that the generation of Islamist terrorism is more deeply rooted in the social strains created by modernization, the competition between Islam and other religions, and the growth of secular government. Leftist terrorism was uniquely stimulated by Cold War rivalry (and subsequently declined thereafter). Both forms of transnational terrorism display a kindred nature, however, in that both are encouraged by the social strains of transitional development and the political opportunities created by increasing political rights. Moreover, foreign direct investment is associated with reduced transnational terrorism over time, calling into question theories that stress global order and anti-systemic violence against international capitalism.

The Global Digital Divide (GDD) in Internet and related forms of information technologies has gained some press and scholarly attention in recent years. Although the contours and causes of Internet diffusion around the globe are now better understood, a number of questions and avenues remain unanswered or unexplored, particularly concerning the role of socio‐demographic structures and even conflict processes on Internet diffusion. This study addresses the current state of the digital divide and sheds new light on the barriers that continue to inhibit developing nations’ lag with the West in Internet connectivity. Focusing on a large sample of the world’s developing nations, this project finds that although the GDD is narrowing, the gap is still large and that specific demographic properties (high fertility) and conflict processes threaten to keep many societies in the periphery of cyberspace. The authors also find that urban agglomerations work to amplify Internet demand over time and that maturing economies may no longer require democratization as a pathway to Internet development. Implications of these findings and future directions of research are briefly discussed.

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