Pushing the Boundaries of Digital Diplomacy: The International Experience and the Russian Practice

One of the negative consequences of rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is the emergence of new forms of international conflicts, including information and network warfare. There are new phenomena such as Cyber-Mobbing and Cyberbullying (Happy Slapping, Alienation, Extortion of confidential information, "Flaming", Slander, etc.) or "Factories of Trolls". The usage by some countries of the provocation strategy consists of the organization of information warfare so that the resources of the opponent are directed against him. Today unilateral statements that this or that state can be involved in illegal actions in information field, it is not enough to attribute the given harmful activity to this state. The charges of the states in the organization and realization of cyber attacks should be proved. The author concentrates on exploring prospects and challenges of digital diplomacy in the international field with special reference to Russia. In the paper, the author used the results of his comparative analysis of digital activity of the embassies of Russia in the world and statistical methods in the processing and strategic assessment of the data of Report of the 18th Russian Internet Forum. The paper presents modern techniques of reaching political audiences through digital diplomacy, which on the one hand, provides new opportunities for the implementation of international politics, and on the other, imposes special requirements on its members. The paper examines the consequences of the growing influence of the Internet on global politics, including the possibility of large-scale public opinion manipulation. The results of OSINT research have unveiled hyperactivity of terrorist organisations in networks. The paper centers on the Russian experience to oppose such tools as compulsory recruitment and others. The paper focuses on a new form of public diplomacy and shows its mechanism of influence on foreign audiences. It is shown that there is an inverse relation between the diplomatic and public offices (a new phenomenon of the modern information society). Basing on the digital activity of Russian embassies in Latin America and Caribbean basin the author stresses the role of social media in shaping public opinion, which puts forward specific requirements for how information is supplied on the official pages of diplomatic offices in social networks. The new format of close cooperation between a society and diplomatic agencies makes the modern diplomacy on the one hand more open and public, and less restrained on the other. At the same time the Ministry of Defense and other state structures of Russia in recent years have been paying special attention to strengthening cybersecurity and continue the national strategy buildup in that area. The complexity of the solution all the above questions lies primarily in the imperfection of international law in the regulation of the information space.