Open Networks, Closed Regimes: The Impact of the Internet on Authoritarian Rule 

Traces Internet use in eight authoritarian and semi-authoritarian countries: China, Cuba, Singapore, Vietnam, Burma, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. They discover that authoritarian governments, far from fearing the information age, have chosen to direct Internet development in ways that bolster the state. At the same time, many regimes are struggling to cope with the potent challenges posed by new technologies. The authors encourage policy makers in the U.S. and other industrialized democracies to promote specific Internet-based initiatives that foster political liberalization, rather than perpetuating the myth of the Internet as an unstoppable 'virus of freedom.'

Kalathil, Shanthi and Taylor C. Boas. First Monday (2003). Articles>Cyberculture>Government>Online