INTRODUCTION :
Cyber diplomacy can be seen as a de-escalation strategy. Along with the conventional, sea, land, air, and space domains of warfare, cyberspace is now considered the fifth domain of warfare. Europe has reported more bilateral, multilateral, and international agreements than any other area in the world, as well as the highest score for participation in international forums. In response to the growing politicization of cyberspace and wider techno-geopolitical dynamics, hundreds of foreign ministries have created offices dedicated solely to cyberspace and appointed “cyber diplomats” in the last decade. In a world where more countries are developing offensive cyber capabilities, cyber diplomacy is needed to prevent escalation or incorrect attribution of cyberattacks by maintaining a constant dialogue between peers and ensuring that channels of communication remain accessible, even during times of crisis. Cyber threats have become more diverse over time, ranging from outright cyber conflict or warfare to cyber sabotage and espionage.
While cyber defense was originally limited to the protection of military assets, its scope is expanding as the military, like the civilian world, relies on a secure cyberspace to protect critical infrastructure such as power grids, water systems, banking, transportation, communication systems, and, most importantly, the flow of goods and services. Attacks on critical infrastructure have the potential to cause widespread harm or even completely paralyse a country. (Understanding the EU’s approach to cyber diplomacy and Cyber defence https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2020/651937/EPRS_BRI(2020)651937_EN.pdf )
WHY CYBER DIPLOMACY?
Strategic rivalry is gradually being carried out in the digital sphere, which is becoming more commonly recognized. The sheer number of cyber offensive actors are growing, ranging from lone wolves to state and non-state actors. Non-state actors often serve as fronts for belligerent states. The logic of cyberdiplomacy is undeniable, but its implementation is relatively recent. Diplomacy’s position in cyberspace receives much less attention in the media than reports about cyber incidents. Divergent interests, norms, and values have transformed cyberspace into a contested political environment. Diplomats also joined the game as a result of this politicization.
In that sense, cyber-diplomacy can be seen as the most recent, but especially important, instalments in the evolving role of diplomacy in the digital age. Cyber Diplomacy is also primarily concerned with institutionalizing common interests, ideas and cultural approach among states to establish and preserve shared norms, laws, and institutions. Ultimately it takes people, non-state organisations, and ultimately the global community as the subject of global social identities and arrangements to respect them, this transcendence of the state system is at the core of International cyber relations . Navigating through minds of the first generation of cyber-diplomats on the ground interpreting this brave new world is strenuous, when facing a formidable opponent, the task demands higher standards of diligence and lower tumultuousness.
Even though the context, actors, and issues of diplomatic work have changed, our core assumptions are that the basic functions of diplomacy in International Relations remain unchanged. (Full article: Cyber-diplomacy: the making of an Internatioanl society in the digital age https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23340460.2017.1414924 )
Entrepreneurs like John L. Hennessy, the chairman of Google, tend to possess “pulling power” that is difficult to match for state officials. They are the “new emperors” of diplomacy. (Full article: Cyber-diplomacy: the making of an Internatioanl society in the digital age https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23340460.2017.1414924)
Over the years, diplomacy has gradually expanded to new policy fields, entering uncharted political territories such as climate negotiations and cyber space. China and other countries have been expressing and advocating that cyberspace can no longer be controlled by the West and it it completely logical for cyber space politics to have diverse representations and it is evidently in China’s interest to represent the current power balance in the international power system. Government regulation and control over the free Internet is a matter of existential issue for authoritarian countries, while democratic countries prefer an open and free cyberspace. The traditional power structures and conventional power dynamics of the previous century are clearly evident in cyber space as well.
WHAT IS CYBER DIPLOMACY ?
Cyber-diplomacy is described as diplomacy in the cyber domain, or the use of diplomatic tools and the performance of diplomatic functions to protect national interests in cyberspace. Cybersecurity, cybercrime, confidence-building, internet freedom, and internet governance are all on the cyber-diplomacy agenda. (Cyber-diplomacy: the making of an international society in the digital age – André Barrinha and Thomas Renard – https://estudogeral.uc.pt/bitstream/10316/83482/1/Cyber%20diplomacy.pdf )
Building Multilateral Engagement and Strategic Partnerships, building strategic alliances with other countries around the world to promote joint action and collaboration against common challenges, forming like-minded coalitions on critical policy issues, exchanging intelligence and national programs, and fighting bad actors are all part of cyber diplomacy. A new dimension of international affairs is a collection of diplomatic activities dealing with the narrowly specified regulation of cyberspace.
EU – CYBERSPACE:
The EU’s main goal in cyber diplomacy is to create a safe and trusting digital environment in which people are free to express their views and pursue their goals.
The EU’s cyber diplomacy aims to ensure that governments, the private sector, civil society organizations, and end users around the world are aware of the effect of an open, accessible, and safe cyberspace on their lives and are able to defend it.
The EU encourages partner countries to build their digital infrastructure in a sustainable manner. It implements programs aimed at strengthening cyber resilience and combating cybercrime.
The EU is a major contributor to cyber capacity-building projects aimed at developing national cybersecurity strategies, creating CERTs, and combating cybercrime while upholding human rights and freedoms. A proof of commitment is the Budapest convention. The Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, the only regional document with global scope, is supported and promoted by the EU.
The Convention establishes technology neutral concepts, protocols for international cybercrime cooperation, and rule-of-law protections. Given the transnational nature of cybercrime,
the Council of Europe also offers concrete support for legislative or structural changes in accordance with the Budapest Convention through a variety of projects and initiatives.
The EU also assists countries in strengthening their legal and operational capacities to combat cybercrime, including by improving their ability to collaborate effectively internationally.
The EU assists member states in, comprehensive policies, organizations, and technological interventions and in other sectors; the EU works with partner countries to improve the resilience of their vital information infrastructure and networks; it is also working to raise awareness about the value of the right to privacy and to encourage greater legislative integration in the field of data protection.
The EU works with stakeholders all over the world to provide policy support and improve understanding of EU policies.
The EU improves cooperation on digital policies such as telecom law, e-government confidence and protection, e-Trade, eHealth, ICT creativity, and digital skills.
The EU is taking measures to improve the implementation, coordination, and coherence of the EU’s external cyber initiatives on a global scale.
The EU’s joint diplomatic approach to malicious cyber activities relies heavily on the Cyber Diplomacy Toolbox. Its five sets of interventions are aimed at preventing disputes, mitigating cybersecurity risks, and leading to greater cyberspace stability.
In cyberspace, the EU encourages responsible behaviour: It asserts that current international law applies in cyberspace and emphasizes that adherence to international law, especially the United Nations Charter, is critical to preserving international peace and security.
The EU is committed to tightening export restrictions on goods and technology that could be used for human rights abuses, terrorist attacks, or the production of weapons of mass destruction.
The EU’s export controls, for example, are designed to deter human rights violations linked to such cyber surveillance technologies.
The EU is increasingly improving its ability to defend against cyber-attacks, fight child sexual abuse and child pornography online, deter fraud and counterfeiting, and promote cross-border access to electronic proof.
The EU is modernizing its rules for collecting electronic evidence required to investigate and eventually convict suspects and terrorists in order to promote collaboration between law enforcement and judicial authorities. Prime examples of such entities established are European Production Order, European Preservation Order.
Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) aims to improve cross-EU law enforcement cooperation in the fight against cybercrime. The European Judicial Cybercrime Network, which is funded by Eurojust, makes it easier for competent judicial authorities to collaborate.
Individuals are covered under the Data Protection, Police directive has to be established when their personal data is collected by authorities for the purposes of preventing, investigating, detecting, or prosecuting illegal offenses or enforcing criminal penalties.
The European Union Strategy aims to promote ‘agreements on responsible state behavior in cyberspace based on established international law,”multilateral digital governance, and a global cooperation structure on cybersecurity,’ all of which are based on partnerships between like-minded nations, organizations, the private sector, civil society, and experts.
According to European Commission guidelines, the following are the key elements of cyberspace capability and confidence-building measures:
developing and strengthening organizations’ ability to respond to and recover from cyber-threats; ensuring diplomatic commitments to maintain an open, free, and safe cyberspace; fostering equitable growth and the long-term creation of digital infrastructure; improving digital markets and ensuring a secure online economy; developing cyber defense strategies to defend military equipment, networks, and defense institutions. (Full article – Understanding the EU’s approach to cyber diplomacy and cyber defence- https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2020/651937/EPRS_BRI(2020)651937_EN.pdf )
Some EU and non-EU countries are still opposed to the concept of a “central global regulatory body for cyberspace defense,” citing fears about national sovereignty being eroded. Global interconnectivity, collaboration, and interoperability may be undermined if a campaign for “cyber sovereignty” continues. While it has been established that international law applies to cyberspace, states continue to disagree on how it applies in situations such as self-defense, countermeasures, and situations falling under international humanitarian law.
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