Dr. Begench Karaev
Seemingly mysterious at first glance, and at the same time the popular expression “smart”, often found in our everyday life, at first approximation is trivially translated from English as “smart”, “savvy” or “sharp-witted”. Following this logic, the title of yours truly contains the expressions “D-smart” and “G-smart” to designate in the modern Anglo-American language as “Smart” Diplomacy for Smart Generation”.
The logic of the progressive lexical element “smart” reflects the specifics of the process of formation of new terms of the information era to designate “smart”, that is, high-tech objects or items with digital control. For example, we can cite the well-known word “smartphone”, meaning a mobile phone, which is sometimes far superior to conventional computers in terms of the functions they perform. Or take the expression “Smart TV”, which means a kind of hybrid of a TV and a computer. This latest generation TV comes with a built-in operating system with many functions, including Internet access and social networks. Even ordinary wristwatches, thanks to digital technology, have acquired models that are widely used under the name “smart watch”. Today it is clear that books in this area also began to acquire additional qualities, being called “smart-reading”. Recently, many Internet software applications have begun to provide so-called “smart-support” functions to enhance the capabilities for network users.
The scale of growth of smart technologies is also evidenced by the fact that today entire urban complexes are equipped with digital smart technologies. In particular, in Turkmenistan, on June 29, 2023, the opening of the “smart” city of Arkadag took place, which was built on the basis of the Smart-city concept. The new city, which received legislative status of national significance, received 21 international awards for advanced solutions, primarily for digital technologies. President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov noted the need to develop a concept for the development of the city of Arkadag for 2024–2052. The head of state noted that such a document will allow the Turkmen “smart city” to take its rightful place in the international arena. It is possible that by the time the second stage of the city of Arkadag is commissioned, the latest technologies of the “smart +” or even “smart ++” level and more will be mastered.
The enrichment of such information content of the so-called noosphere of our planet is proceeding at an accelerated pace, and this process dictates its own rules for the entire human community. As is known, the concept of “noosphere” means the sphere of interaction between nature and society, within which intelligent human activity becomes the main determining factor of development. Such concepts as technosphere, anthroposphere, sociosphere, etc. are also known as components of the noosphere . All of them are products of a new phenomenon in the life of civilization – the advent of the digital era, which in turn gave birth to the so-called “virtual space”. The virtual part of the noosphere is persistently expanding its limits, already invading the human mind and intellect, not to mention the socio-political, socio-economic and cultural-humanitarian life of people.
One of the obvious examples of the impact of the virtual world on real nature is the economic, especially energy and environmental consequences of the rapid growth of mining – the extraction of virtual currency – Bitcoin. The energy intensity of the infrastructure of computer networks for the extraction of cryptocurrency raises very serious concerns at the level of official authorities in many countries of the world.
In particular, one Bitcoin transaction can consume up to 1,200 kWh of energy. This is equivalent to almost 100,000 VISA transactions, making the major cryptocurrency an extremely energy-intensive way to conduct transactions. Global Bitcoin mining consumes 7 times more electricity than Google’s entire global operations. Bitcoin mining consumes about 160 terawatt-hours of electricity annually. This is more, for example, than the whole of Argentina consumes.
The Bitcoin network uses about 2% of the total electricity consumed in the United States per year (this data does not take into account the energy costs of mining other cryptocurrencies ). In Russia, 16 billion kWh of electricity is spent annually on cryptomining, that is, almost 1.5% of the total energy consumption in the country, and energy consumption by cryptomining continues to grow.
In general, the global Internet annually consumes from 84 to 143 gigawatts of electricity, or from 3.6% to 6.2% of global consumption. According to recent studies, during peak gigabyte consumption, the Internet “eats” up to 10% of the global electricity volume. According to some forecasts, in 2025 the IT industry will be able to consume up to 20% of the electricity produced and cause 5.5% of the world’s CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions into the atmosphere.
The carbon footprint of one Bitcoin mined is 223 tons of CO2. According to a study by the website Forexsuggest, in 2021, Bitcoin mining emitted 56.8 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This is twice as much as when mining another cryptocurrency – ether.
In a word, cryptocurrency mining has become such a widespread phenomenon in the last few years that it has begun to have a noticeable impact on global energy and geopolitics. Attempts to combat this phenomenon in one country began to lead to disturbances in the energy balances of neighboring countries. China, which is launching a digital yuan, explained the fight against Bitcoin as the need to reduce CO2 emissions. At the same time, China’s attempts to ban cryptocurrency mining on its territory led to the fact that the United States, Russia and Kazakhstan became leaders in this area, while the energy systems of the post-Soviet space were not ready for such a scenario.
The above figures indicate an increase in the utilization results of the “virtual population” of humanity living on the Internet, or on the World Wide Web – www. If we consider this phenomenon from the point of view of systemic research, then our life has become dichotomous – real and virtual, between which there is a very close interaction. These two spheres constantly condition each other, that is, real things are born from the virtual sphere, and real needs determine virtual processes, etc. It is no coincidence that representatives of the expert community see social networks as one of the serious reasons for the socio-political mobilization of society.
Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Professor at the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, Ovez Mukhammetberdiev, draws attention to the fact that “the 21st century has brought into our lives not only high technologies, ultra-high-speed communications, fantastic innovations, but also many things that were unthinkable in the 20th century. In particular, before our eyes there is a transformation taking place in the socio-psychological sphere, which is increasingly and more clearly acquiring a complete systemic character.”
As an example and for a more accessible understanding of the essence of the ongoing processes, it should be mentioned that the creation of modern “smart” technologies became possible not only thanks to the progress of computerization and digital technologies, but also under the influence of revolutionary ideas in the field of management science, especially management, in the middle of the last century.
In this context, the acronym SMART was first introduced into wide circulation in 1954 by one of the most influential management theorists of the 20th century, an American scientist of Austrian origin, Peter Drucker (German: Peter Ferdinand Drucker ). Initially, SMART rules served as criteria for a rationally formulated strategic goal of a company. In other words, Drucker coined the concept of “SMART” objectives and “SMART Goals”, which meant “smart”, that is, a clear development of goals and objectives. Drucker’s theory is based on his vision of a new information society characterized by constant change. In the world of the future, “creative destruction” will be a fundamental feature of society as a whole, and not just its economic sphere.
Professional managers of the coming era will face the need to adapt to a situation of periodic transformations, when seemingly extraordinary phenomena will no longer be perceived as exceptions and will become the norm. “In periods of fundamental structural change,” Drucker wrote in his book “The Challenges of Management in the 21st Century,” “only the leaders of change survive—those who sensitively grasp the trends of change and instantly adapt to them, taking advantage of the opportunities that arise.”
Major management theorist George Doran Rutledge in November 1981 on the pages of Management magazine Review “published an article entitled “There ‘s a S. M. A. R. T. way to write management ‘s goals and objectives”. Here he formulated his own version of the SMART acronym, which describes the goals and objectives of management as: Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic and Time-related.
The modern complication of the system of international relations determines the relevance of “smart” and SMART technologies not only for business communities or the development of a high-tech economy and industry. Now it is becoming increasingly clear that there is a need to develop SMART methodologies in the field of diplomacy, including its very pinnacle – at the level of the UN. In this regard, the term “digital diplomacy” is increasingly being mentioned, which primarily hints at interstate relations in the virtual sphere. Experience shows that digital diplomacy is still limited to the use of Internet technologies and computer processing of information.
At the same time, attention should be paid to the fact that as the virtual space expands, a qualitative change occurs in the very content of international processes. In particular, the historically established understanding of diplomacy as a method of interstate communication and an instrument of foreign policy is undergoing a fundamental transformation towards “people to people” relations. It is possible that the real number of the socio-political form of existence of the human community in the form of “citizen” will over time be inferior to the number of the virtual community “netizen”, that is, people located in virtual space. Then we will have to significantly rethink Aristotle’s fundamental definition that man is a “political animal,” with the addition of the word “virtual.”
Indeed, we are witnessing the phenomenon of the existence of a second “I” in the form of a “virtual person”. This is due to the fact that during the first quarter of this century, humanity began to have a kind of “parallel population”, that is, people began to live in two dimensions: real and virtual. Today, Earth’s inhabitants aged 16 to 64 spend an average of 6 hours and 37 minutes a day on the Internet. Of these, 60% are looking for useful information, and 53.7% are communicating with friends and family. The audience of entertainment programs and TV covers up to half of Internet users.
The number of Internet users is now 5.16 billion people, or 64.4% of the world population. Of the total number of Internet users, 4.8 billion are the audience of social network users, and this “population” is growing by 3% annually. At the same time, the growth rate of the planet’s real population is only 1.1% per year. To give a concrete example, the social media space X, formerly known as Twitter, alone now has 251 million daily active users.
If we talk about Internet penetration in different countries, an interesting fact is that the top four, along with Ireland and Norway, include Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. More than 99% of the population is connected to the Internet. For comparison, the United States, with 91.8% of its population connected to the Internet, ranks 45th in the world. In Russia this figure is 88.2%. In total, 55 countries of the world have Internet connection from 90% of the population. It is important to note that North America accounts for only 6.7% of the total number of Internet users in the world.
Thus, today it is clear that traditional international relations, understood as mainly relations between states, are taking on the meaning of a much broader “international communication”. Accordingly, diplomacy also strives to keep pace with this trend as it has a new “digital” offshoot. World leaders have accounts on global social networks, primarily in “X,” through which they express their own opinions and positions of their countries and instantly respond to significant international events.
Until recently, a distinctive feature of the virtual space is its neutrality, where there are no geopolitical poles, and social network participants communicate, trade, have fun, etc., without encountering borders or other obstacles. Of course, the issues of cybersecurity, the fight against organized crime, terrorism and countering other challenges have been and remain very relevant. But they should be discussed as a separate topic.
Famous American Internet theorist and writer Michael Hauben, while still a second-year student at Columbia University in New York in 1996, in his article “Further Thoughts on Netizens”, proposed to consider the concept of the Internet much broader than just as a means of communication and information exchange. He drew attention to the fact that people located in the www are the ones who turn it, that is, Net, into a significant resource. In this regard, Michael Hauben emphasized that “Netizens are Net Citizens” who make the Net a resource for people. These netizens are involved in making the Net both an intellectual and a social resource.
Professor Rhonda Hauben, a recognized UN accredited expert on the online Internet and social media, is co-author with Michael Hauben of the book Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet”. She claims the formation of a new concept in the theory of citizenship, which is due to the emergence of the “netizen” phenomenon. In her opinion, processes in the netizen community require close attention, primarily from the UN. R. Hauben in his article “The Struggle Over Internet Governance and the Role of the UN”, published on March 16, 2021 on the pages of the German online magazine Telepolis, analyzed the UN’s efforts to govern the Internet.
As Rhonda Hauben notes, almost before our eyes and almost imperceptibly, a new type of citizenship is developing – “Netizens”, which are represented by the users of the Net, that is, the Internet. The Netizens community lives its own life, where official power does not dominate, there are no borders and geographical distances, and other obstacles from real life. The freedom of the virtual world simultaneously gives rise to dangers that pose a threat to the real lives of network users. In this regard, it is noteworthy that back in January 1996, Michael Hauben noted that Netizens are representatives of a new type of communication environment, where participants belong to a global community, going far beyond the boundaries of a specific country or region.
Over the past almost three decades, the relevance of the “Netizens” phenomenon has only increased, as evidenced by the efforts of the UN. During this period, a number of global forums were held, in particular the World Summits on the Information Society –WSIS, 2003 and 2005.
In July 2018, the UN Secretary-General announced the establishment of a High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation to develop proposals for strengthening digital cooperation among governments, the private sector, civil society, international organizations, academic institutions, the technical community and other relevant stakeholders. The group was co-chaired by Melinda Gates and Jack Ma and submitted a final report in June 2019, entitled “The Age of Digital Interdependence.” As a result of the discussion of the report of the UN Secretary-General “Roadmap for Digital Cooperation: Implementation of the recommendations of the High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation”, General Assembly resolution A/74/821 was adopted on May 29, 2020. It highlights concerns about the Net, where “New vulnerabilities are emerging as more people use online services.” The UN expressed concern that “the use of the Internet and social media in connection with elections, on the one hand, as tools for popular engagement, and on the other, as vehicles for the spread of disinformation and hate speech, necessitates the need to address complex issues.”
Information and communications technology (ICT) activities are expected to account for up to 20% of global electricity demand, with one third of this coming from data centers alone . The high-level panel predicted that the potential cost of data privacy breaches worldwide would be more than $5 trillion in 2024. Meanwhile, data security has not kept pace with advances in electronic hacking and espionage. In 2019, there were more than 7,000 data security breaches, resulting in more than 15 billion records being compromised. The volume of personal data leaks in the world more than tripled in 2023 – to 47.24 billion records. Therefore, ensuring effective protection of personal data and protecting the right to privacy in accordance with internationally agreed standards is of paramount importance.
Resolution A/74/821 also highlighted the wide range of global challenges posed by the Net, ranging from child protection to the prevention of online harassment and violence and the need for content management. The document emphasizes that “The Internet should provide a safe space for information exchange, education, self-expression, mobilization and participation in society. It is possible, however, to ensure that the legitimate needs underlying the need for encryption are met without compromising legitimate law enforcement objectives, while applying human rights-based laws and approaches to counter the spread of illegal and harmful online content.”
The UN roadmap also provides for coordination of actions in the field of creation and application of artificial intelligence, which is becoming a fundamental factor in digitalization in various areas – from navigation tools and blocks of recommended content to advanced scientific research in the field of genome sequencing . At the same time, artificial intelligence can also significantly undermine the safety of users around the world and their ability to independently influence the surrounding reality. For example, lethal autonomous weapons systems may be able to make life-and-death decisions without human intervention, and artificial intelligence products such as synthetic media—also known as “deepfakes”—are used to manipulate public opinion. The resolution also affirms that “decisions of life and death should not be delegated to machines,” consistent with the Secretary-General’s call for a global ban on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Member States are addressing this issue through their participation in the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Cause Excessive Injury or to Have Indiscriminate Effects.”
Issues of international legal regulation of digital space processes at the UN level are also due to the relevance of ensuring trust and security in the system of international relations. This message is key to reaping the benefits of digital technologies as part of the collective effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The Community of Nations called for a Universal Declaration to help create a shared vision of digital cooperation based on core values. It specifically focuses on protecting the digital technologies that enable key functions in society, often referred to as “critical infrastructure,” including technologies that support access to food, water, housing, electricity, healthcare, and transportation.
The UN General Assembly, through Resolution A/74/821, addressed all member states of the Community of Nations with the words: “Future generations will be able to assess whether the current generation has been able to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the era of digital interdependence. It’s time to act.”
President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, in his speech at the plenary session of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, proposed to begin discussing the possibilities of developing a Global Security Strategy based on the principles of the UN Charter and generally recognized norms of international law, taking into account current realities and trends in global development. This Strategy is designed to reflect the presence, along with traditional ones, of new risk factors that have emerged recently.
In this context, risks in cyberspace are one of these new challenges for the international community. This is evidenced by the position of the President of Turkmenistan, expressed from the rostrum of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in July 2023. The head of the Turkmen state especially emphasized: “it is obvious that the success of our economic cooperation can only be discussed in conditions of ensuring lasting peace, stability and security. And Turkmenistan is ready for active cooperation with the SCO in the implementation of this most important dual task.” In this regard, the President of Turkmenistan proposed to pay attention to a number of specific areas of work, among which priority was given to the establishment of political and diplomatic cooperation in the field of cyber and biosecurity, as well as the establishment of a platform for effective partnership in the field of high technologies.
Turkmenistan is preparing to participate in the upcoming 79th session of the UN General Assembly as its vice-chairman, which means a high level of trust in it as the country initiating the motto of the Community of Nations for the next year “2025 – International Year of Peace and Trust”. At the same time, the results of the first quarter of this century suggest that humanity, especially its younger generation, wants guaranteed peace on the planet and is striving to create and master innovations, including in the field of digital technologies.
The President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov in his book “Youth is the support of the state” writes: “History is written by great deeds,” and, continuing his reflections, draws attention to the fact that life itself is directed towards innovation, and development is constantly fueled by new ideas and effective approaches. In this context, the most inquisitive and innovative part of modern society is undoubtedly the youth. Therefore, along with the traditional continuity of generations, today’s young people, in turn, do not so much adopt as teach innovation to the older generation, especially with regard to digital technologies.
In this regard, it can be noted that the prospects for peace and security, including in the sphere of the virtual community, depend on the future effectiveness of “smart diplomacy” – D-Smart . This gives rise to hope that the joint solution of global problems will push into the background the stereotypes of the historically existing conflict world, where from time immemorial the essence of the biblical appeal to the Pharisees has been preserved: “Qui non nobiscum, adversus nos est” – “He who is not with us is against us.” Of course, humanity is still very far from the Kantian “eternal peace”, but thanks to the rationally thinking generation of future politicians, diplomats, and talented people in general, humanity will be able to live in conditions of long-term peace.
Therefore, it is quite logical that the challenges of the future, including in the field of the virtual world, will be adequately resolved by today’s young people, who will also have the constructive potential of digital diplomacy. This consideration underlies the logical relationship between D-Smart and G-Smart, that is, between “Smart Diplomacy” and “Smart Generation”.
Dr. Begench Karaev deals with the problems of philosophy of law and politics. He is the author of a number of textbooks and monographs, including “Political analysis and strategic planning”, “Political analysis: problems of theory and methodology: (Experience in the study of modern Central Asian society)” and “Traditional and modern in the political life of Central Asian society (experience of political analysis)”. /// nCa, 5 August 2024
Truth for a diplomat – Part 5. Antalya Forum: victory will be with diplomacy
TRUTH FOR THE DIPLOMAT – Part 6 – Public diplomacy: historical connection of times
TRUTH FOR THE DIPLOMAT – Part 7 – The power of neutrality vs Crassus Syndrome