KRAKOWSKIE STUDIA MIĘDZYNARODOWE
KRAKOW INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
XXI: 2024 | e-ISSN 2451-0610 | ISSN 1733-2680
https://doi.org/10.48269/2451-0610-ksm-2024-008
Nezir Akyeşilmen
PhD, Selçuk University
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8184-5280
Digital transformation in international relations: new challenges, old strategies?
Abstract
Digitalization has been profoundly affecting every aspect of life for the last three decades including international relations. This study investigates the transformative effects of digitalization on both the discipline of International Relations (IR) and the practice of IR. Digitalization has driven significant transformations across various domains, including from conflict to peace, from diplomacy to security and from human rights to the environment. This study seeks to answer the question of how digitalization has reshaped traditional paradigm of international relations? Adopting a qualitative research methodology, including a comprehensive literature review, also incorporates the Constructivist IR theory, which emphasizes the changes in actor behaviors occur as norms evolve. The finding reveals a dual impact: While cyber-attacks, especially on critical infrastructures pose threats to national and international security, cyber diplomacy enhances environmental protection and cooperation among global actors. This duality clearly demonstrates how complex and complicated the relationship is between the challenges and opportunities brought about by the digital age in international relations.
Key words: international relations, digital transformation, cybersecurity, digital diplomacy and cyber conflicts