The whole family of internet self-governing bodies are busy preparing their takes on how to reign the future Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). As a coordinator of core infrastructure services for naming (ICANN), numbering (Regional Internet Registries) and standardisation (IETF), IANA has been in the middle of quite some fights. This one might well be the biggest one.
News and Research articles on Regional Internet Registries (RIRs)
Since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 our international system is based upon the principle of territorial sovereignty. Today, however, cross-border online spaces made possible by the internet span across a system of fragmented national jurisdictions. Tension rises since we do not have the legal equivalent to the technical interoperability that enables the global internet. A choice has to be made.
Routing security sounds like a nice idea, yet in "post Snowden" times the trust in centralised core resources has vanished even more. Internet adminstrators warn against fragmentation, while at the same time making use of one tool that could go in that direction: the RPKI system.