Ernest J. Wilson,  dean of the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at USC and a university fellow at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, has a thoughtful piece in the Huffington Post on the ramifications of Google’s announcement that it may withdraw from China, and how it may affect not just China but also U.S. foreign policy:

A consequence of the digital economy’s timidity is that the U.S. foreign policy agenda has not changed very much in substance or tone. But now, if other major content producers follow Google into the ring, the strategic and diplomatic gravity of big Silicon Valley firms may finally match their economic weight. Of course, traditional matters like military strategy, state-to-state diplomacy and the like will always remain important elements of a nation’s statecraft. But moving forward we may see a couple of changes that suggest we have reached an inflection point.

First, changes in substantive issues. The high tech companies are clearly engaging in issues of real sensitivity for all parties — freedom of information, freedom of speech and the like are increasingly central to the international policy agenda, pressed partly by the boundary-breaking technologies of Twitter and blogs. Second, there may be some process changes too. Google was willing to take bold steps on sensitive issues that in some ways outflanked the Obama administration. It’s interesting to note that in a long-planned speech by the Secretary of State on international technology issues including the Internet, Ms. Clinton used some of the harshest language to date directed at China’s leaders. We have to assume Google’s independent moves ratcheted up the temperature of her remarks; the leaders of the PRC noted as much and launched their own salvo against US interference in their affairs. Third, Google’s action has prompted a lot of conversation among the groups that see themselves as stakeholders in these issues — human rights organizations, think tanks, universities and big corporations. New multi-stakeholder organizations like the Global Network Initiative, which has been quietly meeting for several years seeking ways to align the different perspectives of companies and human rights groups, may feel emboldened to become more assertive in their engagement with U.S. foreign policy.

We can only imagine the future contours and content of Silicon Valley’s new foreign policy. But it is worth looking at how the economic information and communication powerhouses will pursue their international interests. What would their new activism mean for trade policy? Security affairs? Regional policies? Does this buttress ‘public diplomacy’ policies of governments, or make them less relevant? Stay tuned to find out.

There’s been a lot of talk about the impact of Google’s actions in China. The biggest impact of their policy innovation may be right here in the US of A.