Open Access

Michael Kolain

• Herr Kolain hielt diesen Vortrag über Zoom auf Einladung der Stipendiatinnen und Stipendiaten der Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes am 29. September 2022 an der Humboldt Universität Berlin. The world of 2022 is globally and digitally connected and disrupted by manifold crises. Questions of power, participation and cooperation arise with particular urgency – and the young generation is asking and searching for clear, effective and participatory solutions. How will we collectively find the best way towards social and climate justice and, ultimately, inner and outer peace? While internet platforms have taken a dominating influence on how “the internet” is used, there is an ongoing debate on decentralization of the digital world. The idea behind distri-buted systems and computing is to remove powerful intermediaries, make data flows transparent and strengthen the position of the individual. Tackling authoritarian tendencies with the separation of powers and a vivid civil society, is also the core idea of modern democracies. The idea of subsidiarity and federalism is to make political decisions at the lowest possible level. The presentation focusses on the overarching question: How should digital statehood be structured, both on a constitutional and a technical level? It combines general thoughts on the future of statehood and sovereignty with an analysis of current technology trends, such as blockchain or AI.