We have long since entered the era of globalization where mega-corporations hold as much power, if not more, than local governments. It has long been cited that if Wal-Mart were a country, its GDP would rival that of Sweden or Saudi Arabia (which is still more or less true: Wal-Mart’s revenue of $420 Billion would rank it around 22nd in GDP, were it a country).
While economic success is an important measure of a company’s relevance, companies still lack the political clout that a government may wield. However, Facebook is now following Google’s footsteps in taking a significant stride toward legitimacy as a relevant political force: ambassadors.
Facebook’s ambassadors, or ‘foreign policy directors,’ are to be deployed to the Middle East, Scandinavia, Britain, India and Spain, among others. The general idea is to avoid antagonizing dictators and to placate privacy concerns in liberal democracies. While the positions vary in scope, with some looking to promote use by government and others looking to more actively address policy, the goal is clear: Facebook is taking governments seriously and expects to be received in a similar fashion.
Companies have a long history of lobbying governments for taxation benefits and similar financial gain. This century, however, marks a shift in thinking; instead of acting to maximize profit after the revenue is made, they have began to actively shape policy in certain (presumably profit-making) directions.
With over 600 million users, Facebook already has some political sway. For example, Kosovo’s recognition as a country by Facebook has been deemed, by most, to have more significance than recognition by state players. Also, the languages a website, like Facebook, chooses to recognize can help legitimize or de-legitimize the use of that language elsewhere.
While Google was the first to hire positions of this nature, Facebook following such a development is, by far, more critical to this change. The most courageous is not the first bold innovator, but the first to follow, thus, being the indicator to all of the rest that the time has come for change. While Yahoo also has some activity in this area, the publicity and boldness of Facebook’s move will shake up other companies and lead them to inspect their own operations and how they deal with a number of state governing bodies. While, Google’s actions were a result of immediate political expediency over privacy concerns, Facebook’s move came as somewhat of a pre-emptive strike. While legal action is looming against Facebook, it is clear they are looking to shape policy broadly and not just over a single issue.
Facebook’s relevance is especially important, given its role in recent events occurring in the Middle East. Though revolutions are an obvious example, even day-to-day operations can be significant. For example, what is more important to India? The trade policies of Ecuador or the privacy and security settings of Google? It’s fairly clear that we will soon start to see reciprocal diplomacy with governments sending ambassadors to maintain their interests with large companies, especially those with a strong internet presence.
As the advantages of such relationships become clear, we can expect other companies to follow suit. Greater scrutiny of private-public relationships and an examination of the role companies play in our economies, our culture and our political systems will become necessary. Ambassadors and diplomats between companies and countries, and perhaps companies among themselves may become commonplace in the near future.
Such diplomats are a decisive step toward entrenching companies as the dominant political force of our era. Companies have long shown their ability to sway government incentives with the offer of jobs: it is naïve to think governments will be able to resist similar temptations on policy. Furthermore, as the uprisings in the Middle East demonstrate, internet companies, in particular, can play a pivotal role in political affairs. As it is abundantly clear, companies hold economic power over the citizens of the globe; it is not long before this power shifts to the political arena.
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