In a way i agreee with you. While most internet
traffic, tends to be "local" as in by country
and region, there is no unique hardware made
in only the US that maintains the WWW, a great
deal of the traffic that is *not* "local"
involves US sites, and commerce with US companies.
There is no technical barrier to other countries
maintaining a network, independant of US controlled
TLDs and oversight, but it defeats the promise
of the Internet by cutting off access and opportunities
by doing so.
Sure, since as stated before, US citizens mostly
visit US websites, French visit mostly French websites,
etc...The US could cut off it's connections to foriegn
Servers, and even build a bigger better faster
Internet 2.0..or 3.0...but it is intrinsically
a limiting action. and as you say, as each squabbling
country/bloc decides that they must have/remake the "Internet" in their own image, interoperability
will break down....and there is litle good that comes from that other than some paranoids around the world, feeling "safer" because they can control the information
traveling on their truncated and annexed "piece" of the "net". Instead of being the great leveler of
opportunities, that it has been, it would become a great isolator, and diminisher of opportuntes.