For what it's worth I do agree with you that there will be another Cold War and it may in fact take place on a cyber-battlefield. I would argue though that the Cold War never ended (maybe somebody just hit a pause button).
But while technology might be used for purposes of conflict, I think that the digital age also has the potential to break the barriers of distrust and xenophobia between people of different nations. It's sort of happening on a small scale already. You are able to have a conversation with a person in China (when their internet is not being blocked) and realize that they are not a DVD-copying, cat-eating, environment-hating communist that your society might suggest they are. Governments often use the lack of knowledge about different nations to justify going to war or blocking trade. Maybe with the new age of global digital awareness we will not have such an easy time cultivating distrust and hate. Or maybe it's gotten to the point where we all distrust and hate each other on an individual level.. in which case we're all fucked
But while technology might be used for purposes of conflict, I think that the digital age also has the potential to break the barriers of distrust and xenophobia between people of different nations. It's sort of happening on a small scale already. You are able to have a conversation with a person in China (when their internet is not being blocked) and realize that they are not a DVD-copying, cat-eating, environment-hating communist that your society might suggest they are. Governments often use the lack of knowledge about different nations to justify going to war or blocking trade. Maybe with the new age of global digital awareness we will not have such an easy time cultivating distrust and hate. Or maybe it's gotten to the point where we all distrust and hate each other on an individual level.. in which case we're all fucked