Prodromos Yannas. Information Security and Ethics: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications. Editor: Hamid Nemati, Volume 3, Information Science Reference, 2008.
Looking back to the not-so-distant past, one is struck to learn how much the world has changed in the last 30 to 35 years. New developments in major spheres of activity and new ways of knowing have altered, redefined or even transformed, in some cases, the ways we think, act and do things in the world. Changes are evident in all walks of life. In global politics, the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism have brought to the fore new actors and new issues. Nation-states are the principal but not the sole actors on the world stage. International organizations (IOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), transnational corporations, social movements and other non-state entities like media organizations and terrorist groups play an important role in setting the agenda and exerting influence on a global scale. Traditional concerns of sovereignty and security are still important, but policy-makers and academics are asked to re-conceptualize these concepts in lieu of the challenges posed by globalization and new threats to human security, like economic and ecological degradation, terrorism, massive immigration flows, the spread of infectious diseases and contamination of the food chain, to name a few.
To deal and adjust in a very competitive world economy, the corporate sector has espoused flexible accumulation, a regime based upon vertical production disintegration (sub-contracting, outsourcing, etc.) and encompasses innovation and differentiation in the production and marketing of products and services (Harvey, 1990).
Breakthroughs of a similar magnitude have also occurred in the areas of strategic thinking and military organization. Military operations incorporate new information and communication technologies (ICTs) and technological surveillance systems with the aim to bring the enemy to its knees through precision, surgical targeting. For military units to perform optimally, the command system must be decentralized and important decisions must be left to the operating units. Military analysts in the United States (U. S.) have gone so far as to label the new logic in the thinking and conduct of warfare a revolution in military affairs.
Underlying new developments in all realms of human activity has been an information revolution (Keohane & Nye, 1998). The innovations and breakthroughs in the ICTs of the past 30 years have no parallel in history. Developments in telephony have been superceded by fax and TV, satellites, cable TV networks and, last but not least, the expanding potential of computers connected in networks in the private (intranets) and public (Internet) spheres of life. The Internet and World Wide Web have grown exponentially, with 812,931,592 million people at present capable of accessing the Internet (Internet World Stats, 2004). All major powers that comprise the G-8, with the exception of Russia, figure in the list of top 10 countries with highest percentage of Internet users per capita. The U. S. leads the way, with a 68. 8% Internet penetration rate, followed in descending rank order by Canada (64. 2%), United Kingdom (58. 5%) Germany (57. 1%), Japan (52. 2%), Italy (49. 3%) and France (40. 6%). (Internet World Stats, 2004). Other countries on the list include South Korea (62. 4%), Brazil (10. 8%) and China (6. 8%) (Internet World Stats, 2004).
Speed, the vast quantity of information available and easy, low-cost access to information are main features of the information revolution transforming identities and recasting professional practices like diplomacy in a new light. According to Keohane and Nye (1998), information comes in three forms: strategic, commercial and free. Strategic information is ingrained in intelligence and reconnaissance systems and vital for early warning, preventive measures as well as for carrying, if needed, military operations. Companies provide commercial information in exchange for a payment. Products are traded and sold and services are offered over the Internet. The burgeoning activity surrounding e-commerce falls in this category. Free information is the most widespread form in the public sphere. Nation-states and non-state actors alike post information on the Internet to communicate, persuade and motivate their audiences to action. Information’s pivotal role in global affairs is acknowledged in the concepts of soft power and information edge. The persuasiveness of free information enables an actor to exercise soft power; that is, to accomplish desired outcomes because other actors acknowledge and follow the lead of the initial actor in setting the agenda and/or establishing norms and institutions that bring about the desired outcome (Keohane & Nye, 1998). Information as a component of soft power can offer a comparative advantage or an information edge to those states and non-state actors that know how to use and exploit the new ICT (Nye & Owens, 1996). For example, some nation-states develop information edge in the area of strategic communication, whereas non-state actors develop networks, disseminating information over the Internet and mobilizing supporters on global issues.
The sweeping winds of the information revolution could not leave unearthed even areas of activity known for their conservatism and skepticism to adjust to rapid change like the practice of diplomacy. Up to the present, diplomats as a profession have privileged courtesy, patience and compromise as modes of operation. Diplomatic time is slow and change is accomplished by an incremental step-by-step approach. Diplomats, as members of the diplomatic corps, observe formal as well as tacit rules of behavior and share a communal sense of belonging reinforced by their socialization practice s and ritualized interactions. In terms of skills, diplomats rely upon face-to-face interpersonal relationships and have been lagging behind the military officers in upgrading their technical skills. In mediating conflicts and negotiating settlements, diplomats are inclined to favor secret meetings among state elites over open communications and deliberations engaging broader segments of societies. In terms of training, their educational backgrounds originate from a number of academic disciplines (i. e., history, literature, political science, economics, international relations, etc.) and the glue that seems to bind professional diplomats together is their common realist orientation to the understanding of world affairs (Onuf, 1989, p. 249). One can easily surmise that the profile of diplomats is not conducive to the fast pace, transparent and publicly debated mode of communication engendered by the information revolution. Perhaps diplomacy and information and communication technologies may not be a good match but the former can afford to ignore the later at the risk of its own peril.
There is widely held agreement that the key diplomatic functions involve representation, communication and negotiation. To these functions one may add promotion of economic-commercial and legal interests, promotion of cultural relations and policy advice to decision-makers (Jönsson, 2002, p. 215). What remains, though, still in dispute is who represents what entities. Narrow conceptions of diplomacy, advanced by the realist school in international relations, acknowledge professional diplomats as agents of states in an international system of nation-states. Broad conceptions of diplomacy, more attuned to critical and interpretive perspectives in International Relations extend representation to include non-state actors and define diplomacy as a regulated process of communication between at least two subjects, conducted by their representative agents over a particular object (Constantinou, 1996, pp. 25-26). Diplomacy involves the sustained exchange of information and the practice of persuasion among state and non-state actors for reaching agreement and solving problems on national and global issues. The communication function remains central to both conceptions of diplomacy and inquiring into the effects of the information revolution on diplomatic practice is pertinent as ever.
The key question to ask is how the information and communication technologies, along with the force of globalization and the emergence of a vocal global civil society, are impacting the conduct of diplomacy. To address this question, we will examine changes that are occurring at the substance and the practices of diplomacy. We will then proceed to demonstrate, by reference to a number of examples, how governments have adjusted to the information revolution and how non-state transnational actors have been empowered by information and communication technologies.
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the force of globalization have undermined territorially-based state sovereignty. Territory as a dimension of world affairs is downgraded and the conception that the world resembles more a network of nodes representing organizations, individuals or portals in cyberspace warrants serious consideration. Nation-states are still the principal actors and retain the power to grand or withhold recognition in a system of states. However, interdependence among nation-states, the effacing of the domestic-foreign divide in addressing global issues and problems and the new opportunities afforded by the use of information and communication technologies, have brought about both a re-conceptualization in the substance and practices of diplomacy and a diffusion of diplomacy to transnational non-state actors that comprise global civil society. Presently, diplomacy is shared by all who speak and act on a global level to arbitrate, negotiate, mediate, or any way represent the multiple perspectives that make up these publics” Brown & Studemeister, 2002). As a consequence, diplomatic activities are carried out not only by professional diplomats but also by others like nongovernmental organizations, social movements, activists and representatives of transnational businesses. All these entities address global issues either collaborating through the formation of global policy networks or coalescing against policies of states and international organizations. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the actors of the new networked global society appeal and attempt to persuade a global public opinion of a multilayered and ever-shifting composition of interests.
As already mentioned, speed, easy access to vast amounts of information and transparency characterize the information revolution. Each of these characteristics is impacting diplomacy in a number of ways. Speed allows high-level officials in foreign ministries to process and analyze information. In this respect, officials charged with decision-making benefit in the sense of receiving information in a matter of seconds from a variety of sources, not just relying on the reports of the field officers. The process of decision-making is also widened, allowing individuals to engage in policy formation as team players and not necessarily according to their positions in the hierarchy of the foreign policy bureaucracy. At first glance, speed may be rendering redundant the work of field officers. Taking a closer look, one realizes that field officers perform the indispensable service of experiencing first hand local conditions, interpreting and analyzing information and taking into consideration cultural and historical sensibilities in reporting back to their foreign ministries at home. As former U. S. Secretary of State George Shultz has remarked, information technology cannot replace solid diplomatic reporting” (Shultz, 1997). Speed also enables field diplomatic officers to coordinate better with headquarters and other branches of government in crisis situations. The other two characteristics—access to information and transparency—break down the idea that effective diplomacy is conducted behind closed doors and push diplomats to engage in public deliberations with other entities and be held accountable for their actions to global public opinion.
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have also impacted the content, the organizational structures and the human resources of foreign policy bureaucracies. In terms of content, government organizations utilize the Internet to disseminate and receive information on various initiatives such as developing a foreign policy agenda, presenting data and other useful information to traders and investors as well as promoting a desired image of the country. In sum, governments engage in the business of designing web portals that appeal to targeted audiences of the global networked society like experts and activists in the foreign policy area, investors, exporters, and potential tourists to name a few. The ICTs have given rise to a new organizational form, the virtual embassy, a diplomatic post that can even operate from a hotel room with a professional diplomat whose computer connections enable him/her to carry out basic functions and communicate with headquarters back home. Additionally, ICTs encourage teamwork among individuals working in hierarchical organizations including foreign bureaucracies. Video conferencing is widely used for the exchange of information and governments, like the Canadian, have on occasion created virtual task forces, connecting electronically their members to address and deal with a foreign policy problem (Smith, 1999). In terms of knowledge competencies, professional diplomats were up until recently classified as generalists or specialists and, depending on their area expertise, mastered two or more foreign languages. To adjust to the challenges posed by the information revolution, professional diplomats are asked today to supplement their knowledge base with management training and acquisition of computer skills.
Specific types of diplomacy seem to be exploiting and benefiting from the use of the web: traditional, economic and public diplomacy. Traditional diplomacy, whether in the bilateral or multilateral form, has used the web to advance foreign policy priorities, to facilitate the processing of documents and to even receive citizen feedback on important foreign policy initiatives. For example, Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) features on its website extensive coverage of the country’s position on environmental issues and its strategy for sustainable development (Smith and Sutherland, 2002; Potter, 2002). In consular affairs, a number of countries like Denmark and Finland process through the Internet visa applications of foreign nationals. The interactive features of the Internet are more fully exploited in cases where governments or supranational entities like the European Union solicit the views of the public, either through chat rooms, discussion forums or web polls. A case in point is the websites that the Commission of the European Union and the foreign ministries of some member-states like Finland and Greece launched offering material and an online forum of discussion on the future of Europe. The Internet can also be used as a tool in the area of negotiations provided parties share common language and culture. Online meetings can be a cost-cutting and secure way to complete work on the preliminary stage of the negotiations but cannot be a substitute of face-to-face diplomatic negotiations (Kurbalija, 2002). Crisis situations involving humanitarian operations have attracted the research interest of the U. S. Institute of Peace (USIP), a federal organization funded by the U. S. Congress. Since 1995, USIP has been investigating under the Virtual Diplomacy Initiative how governments use information and communication technologies to respond and manage international crises (Brown & Studemeister, 2002). At the core of the initiative is the creation of a common culture of information-sharing and communication between civilian and military branches of government and between non-governmental organizations in carrying out humanitarian and peace operations. The technical term used for the task of information sharing is called interoperability: an electronic “handshake” that enables separate communication systems to share information among themselves towards a common end (Solomon & Brown, 2004).
Economic diplomacy is the second area that has benefited from the use of the Internet. Foreign ministries in collaboration with other government agencies and organizations representing the corporate sector, have created national websites that are replete with valuable information provided by economic counselors and attaches scattered throughout the globe for the benefit of the countries’ exporters and investors. Websites include a whole array of data like company profiles, business leads, trade fairs and events, investment opportunities, laws and regulations pertaining to foreign investment and trade finance arrangements. ICTs and the Internet can really make the difference in the conduct of public diplomacy, the practice of trying to appeal and influence another nation’s public opinion or global public opinion. In an information-saturated world, projecting a favorable image of one’s country to outside audiences (foreign media, politicians, business entrepreneurs, etc.) is considered a valuable intangible asset. States can draw upon their history, culture, political tradition and commitments to norms and values to craft, project and market a brand for themselves. Following the shift from geopolitics to postmodern image politics, the time is ripe for the emergence of a brand state, a state’s concern of its image and reputation to the outside world (Ham, 2001). At the disposal of a brand state, the Internet can become a potent marketing tool and its interactive potential allows surveying segments of global public for image-monitoring purposes. Moreover, Internet facilitates dialogue, an indisputable aspect of communication for any state that engages in public diplomacy efforts (Riordan, 2004).
The information revolution has increased the power of more than 37,000 NGOs and countless social movements in confronting issues of global interest. The Net has enabled these global civil society actors to (a) interconnect on a global scale, exchange and disseminate information, and mobilize supporters into action. In the new communications environment, global activists have managed, by harnessing ICTs, to address and reframe issues, reverse government policies and even promote and help implement new dip lomatic initiatives. Examples abound but the list of the most noteworthy cases includes the global anti-corporate protests regarding the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), the creation of transnational networks whose support for the Zapatista movement reversed the Mexican government’s policy in the Chiapas region from a military to a political solution (Cleaver, 1995), support human rights activists granted to Burmese dissidents for human rights and political reforms in Burma and the Nobel Prize-winning international campaign to ban landmines that culminated in the signing of the Ottawa Treaty in 1997. NGOs expressed in February 1997 public opposition to the MAI on the internet and, along with other actions like letter-writing campaigns, petition signings and public protests, managed to bring in April 1998 negotiations to a halt (Kobrin, 1998). Internet became in 1994-1995 the alternative medium used by NGOs to make available to global public opinion material (letters, communiqués, electronic book, multimedia compact disk, etc.) that were not reported by media organizations. “By the end of 1994”, as policy analysts contend, a remarkable number of Web pages, e-mail list-serves, and gopher archives had been created on the Internet” (Ronfeldt & Arquilla, 2001, p. 183). Moreover, the Net was instrumental in forging connections among peace and humanitarian activists, feminists, and advocates for the human rights of indigenous people and impelled them to action (Cleaver, 1995). The Internet played a similar role in the early 1990s in disseminating information and mobilizing human rights activists and Burmese expatriates. The pro-democracy global campaign bore fruit as witnessed by the passing in 1996 of legislation in the U. S. State of Massachusetts barring companies doing business in Burma from signing contracts with the State of Massachusetts and the subsequent decision of major U S. -based multinationals to withdraw from Burma (Danitz & Strobel, 2001). The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) involved more than 1000 NGOs which collaborated with states to exchange information, mobilize public pressure, lobby governments and legislatures and draft a treaty prohibiting antipersonnel land mines. The ICBL, in existence since 1992, was a successful grassroots campaign that utilized the full potential of Internet tools, e-mail for internal networking and coordination as well as contacting government officials, web pages for diffusing information to activists, the press and policy-makers and fund-raising purposes. The ICBL is an apt demonstration of how global civil society actors, making ample and strategic use of the Internet, could seize the diplomatic initiative from governments, set and control the agenda and persuade states to join in a global policy coalition (Price, 1998).
In case the interests of NGOs clash with those represented by dominant actors such as states and transnational corporations, the internet provides to NGOs an electronic forum to express opposition to established views and an effective mechanism to mobilize people to take action on issues of global concern. NGOs have used the internet to diffuse information and forge global networks on issues ranging from the broad concerns of anti-globalization protests to the more specific issue of genetically modified foods. Melissa Wall (2002) has documented the use of the internet by NGOs around the world to challenge dominant discourses of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and to induce thousands of people to participate in the Seattle anti-corporate protest movement in December 1999. It is reported that an estimated 1500 NGOs signed the protest’s declaration that was created online by Public Citizen (Tkalac and Pavicic, 2003, p. 498). Similarly, Jayne Rodgers (2003) demonstrates how international NGOs like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth have utilized the interactive potential of the internet to raise awareness and prompt people to action against genetically modified foods.
The information and communication technologies have empowered NGOs and other actors of global civil society. The new communications environment, a byproduct of the information revolution, has had a profound impact on all areas of human activity including the practice of diplomacy. With the advent of ICTs, the content, organization and practice of diplomacy have been transformed and there is no way of grasping the changes yet to come as major technological breakthroughs unfold in record time before our eyes. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, a trend towards the de-coupling of diplomacy from its modern sovereign base is beginning to emerge with the aid of ICTs. Professional diplomats will have to share the diplomatic field with global civil society actors. Increasingly, the issues of diplomatic concern are global in scope and gain a global audience. The diplomatic game is becoming more complex, participatory and exciting.