Launching the U.S. International Strategy for Cyberspace

Today, I am proud to announce the United States’ first, comprehensive International Strategy for Cyberspace (pdf). The International Strategy is a historic policy document for the 21st Century — one that explains, for audiences at home and abroad, what the U.S. stands for internationally in cyberspace, and how we plan to build prosperity, enhance security, and safeguard openness in our increasingly networked world.

Today, Homeland Security Advisor John Brennan and I were joined by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Deputy Secretary of Defense Bill Lynn in announcing this landmark document’s release, here at the White House. The event was streamed live on WhiteHouse.gov, and you can view it here starting this evening.

The International Strategy lays out the President’s vision for the future of the Internet, and sets an agenda for partnering with other nations and peoples to achieve that vision. It begins by recognizing the successes networked technologies have brought us, in large part due to the spirit of freedom and innovation that has characterized the Internet from its early days as a research project. While the strategy is realistic about the challenges we face, it nonetheless emphasizes that our policies must continue to be grounded in our core principles of fundamental freedoms, privacy, and the free flow of information.

To achieve our vision, the United States will build an international environment that ensures global networks are open to new innovations, interoperable the world over, secure enough to support people’s work, and reliable enough to earn their trust.  To achieve it, we will build and sustain an environment in which norms of responsible behavior guide states’ actions, sustain partnerships, and support the rule of law.

The International Strategy is larger than any one department or agency. It is a strong foundation for the diverse activities we will carry out across our entire government. It is about the principles that unite our nation, the vision that unites our policy, and the priorities that unite our government.

With our partners around the world, we will work to create a future for cyberspace that builds prosperity, enhances security, and safeguards openness in our networked world. This is the future we seek, and we invite all nations, and peoples, to join us in that effort.

You can read the full strategy (pdf) and a fact sheet on the strategy (pdf).