“Capacity-building” in global Internet governance: The long-term outcomes of “multistakeholderism” Slavka Antonova Communication Program, University of North Dakota, Communication Program, O’Kelly Hall 332, 221 Centennial Drive, Stop 7169, Grand Forks, North Dakota, 58203 Abstract “Capacity building” is a catch phrase from the UN development discourse. In recent years, it has entered the global Internet governance (IG) arena. At World Summit of the Information Society (WSIS 2003), “capacity building” was identified as a key public policy issue. It is proposed in this study that ‘capacity building’ be defined in a different manner – as the principal outcome of the experimental multistakeholder (MSH) process in global IG. The open and inclusive process of stakeholder deliberation leads to accumulation of intellectual capital, development of relational infrastructure for the domain (epistemic community), and emergence of common global con- sciousness. When cast as a capacity-building process, MSH collaboration at global Internet gover- nance arenas exhibits long-term and large-scale intangible outcomes. This study contributes to the understanding of the capacity-building potential of MSH collaboration in IG. By employing concepts from International Relations and Organizational Learning, the author develops a model of tangible and intangible outcomes of MSH collaboration. This unique model can be used for studying the effects in other stakeholder venues of governing global resources and processes. Keywords: Capacity building, multistakeholderism, Internet governance. Abbreviations: ccTLD, country code top-level domain; DoC, Department of Commerce (U.S.); DNS, Domain Name System (Internet); GAC, Governmental Advisory Committee (ICANN); gTLD, generic top-level domain; ICANN, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers; ICTs, information and communication technologies; IETF, Internet Engineering Task Force; IG, Internet governance; IGF, Internet Governance Forum; IP, intellectual property; ISP, Internet service provider; ITU, International Telecommunications Union; MSH, multistakeholder (collaboration); NGO, nongovernmental organization; RIR, Regional Internet Registry; SHs, stakeholders; WGIG, Working Group on Internet Governance (UN WSIS); WSIS, World Summit on Information Society (UN). 1. Introduction In international communications, Internet Governance (IG) is the political terrain for negotiating the boundaries of an emerging global regulatory regime (see Antonova 2008a; Drake & Wilson 2008; Malcolm 2008; Mathiason 2008). What distinguishes this Correspondence: Slavka Antonova, Communication Program, University of North Dakota, Communication Program, O’Kelly Hall 332, 221 Centennial Drive, Stop 7169, Grand Forks, ND 58203, USA. Email: slavka.antonova@email.und.edu Accepted for publication 3 July 2011. Regulation & Governance (2011) 5, 425–445 doi:10.1111/j.1748-5991.2011.01117.x © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd