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The Malta Independent | Thursday 10 December 2015
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The Malta Independent | Thursday 10 December 2015
Is technology re-shaping the state? The realm of virtual states
Martin Camilleri In the age of the 21st century most of world activity centres on the ability and ease of communication between a number of states, organisations and individuals. Military, political and economic activities make extensive use of the technologies available on the Internet breaking down all the barriers that existed between these organised groups. The technology made world globalisation possible bringing the world as one place. With the rapid growth of the Internet, its ubiquitous nature, the technologies available
and the extensive use of this infrastructure by states, organisations and humans led to the creation of a virtual world that is closely related to and substantially influence the traditional physical world. States organise humans into defined groups, led by governments and through cooperation, work and collaboration between these “organised” humans (better known as ‘state population’) try to accomplish prosperity, peace and a comfortable way of life within their domestic territory. There are two types of states that can be considered, the nation state which is a state that has a population that shares either a common ideology or a common culture or a common religion or all of them and states with a population with different beliefs, cultures and ideologies that live in harmony within the state’s territorial boundaries. A State can be theoretically defined as an entity having: • A defined territory. There is no minimum and maximum of territory size but it should not be so small that is does not make sense or feasible to have a State • A permanent population. There is no minimum or maximum size defined but the numbers should be significant to make State sense • An effective Government. A group of people with the au-
thority to conduct the policy, actions, and affairs of a State. • The state must be able to enter into diplomatic relations with other states
The Malta Independent ICT Feature MITA Communications and PR Team
The indicators in international relations show that a new type of state is rising. This is the virtual state. We are moving away from the traditional definition of a state tied to the physical aspect of a state and away from the theory of state physical power (such as possession of a strong military force), which maintains that the state is mighty and the mightier the state the more powerful it is. There is an evident shift towards the virtual world and the opportunities it offers. With the developments in the world and the creation of a virtual world the possible factors that contribute to the establishment of virtual states are: • The shift in world power. It is all about the dispersion of power towards non-state actors (power diffusion) giving these organisations the necessary clout to influence world politics and international relations. The dramatic fall in costs of computers, communications and enabling technology have brought down the prohibitive barriers to use the technology. • The creation of the Internet and the rapid and advanced development of technology. The continuous development of en-
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ilitary, political and economic activities make extensive use of the technologies available on the Internet breaking down all the barriers that existed between these Having a good leadership will ensure that these groups are governed efficiently.
abling technologies on the existing communications infrastructure and the Internet. • The globalisation of world economy. The shift of economic activity from one state to the other cutting across borders. The Internet can be seen as the main supporting backbone for the possible existence of Virtual states. At the start of Internet commercialization most vendors provided basic networking prod-
ucts to ensure connectivity and basic Internet services such as email and web browsing. However the rapid development of software and hardware technology Internet connectivity was made accessible over a variety of platforms such as mobile phones and tablets making everybody connected every time, everywhere. Advanced Internet services were developed and offered over the Internet varying from live chats and video sharing to
voice calls and video/voice calls. This enabled individuals to communicate with others over the Internet and group within the virtual world. The development of eCommerce applications enabled safe financial transactions and thus global trading became more efficient and easy, making it possible for corporations to conduct business across borders with relative ease and taking the least time possible. With the development
of the Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology, groups of individuals, corporations and organisations could form secure “private” groups exchanging any type of information securely between them forming virtual communities, hence the realism of territories in the virtual world. Through these enabling technologies, virtual states in cyberspace are forming. These states are based on three basics which are:
• Access to the Internet. Through the Internet individuals join private groups of people with a common goal. This can be equalled to territory in the traditional state definition. • A significant cause or ideology. Many humans believe or embrace ideologies. This fact will gather them into groups thus forming virtual populations all having the same thoughts and ideas. • A good charismatic leader.
All the above points fit into the definition of a state but this time they are occurring in the realm of the virtual cyber space. Al Qaeda is a good example of a possible virtual nation state. Through the use of the virtual world Al Qaeda has managed to attract members into their community, trained them as fighters for their cause and had a significant impact on the global world. Without the availability of Internet technologies, the rapid growth of Al Qaeda would not be possible. The existence of virtual states offers great challenges. These types of states are now growing to a point of being direct contenders to traditional states and also have the power to influence and effect traditional states. The challenges offered by these new virtual states can be summed up as follows: • Virtual state existence. The idea of a virtual state challenges the current state model based on geographical location and size. The challenge to the international states system is the recognition that these virtual states do exist and need to be treated or tackled as valid players in the in the international states system. • State National Security. Virtual states offer great security challenges to other states. Powerful traditional states are also vulnerable to attacks from new frontiers such as the virtual world. President Obama has admitted that the “U.S. is hugely vulnerable to foreign cyber-attacks). Such attacks can be launched by virtual states and the challenges lying ahead for states are to take these issues seriously. The US has recently recognized the threat that is coming from cyber space and has provided the necessary budgets to support initiatives of cyber defence. • Citizenships and loyalties. Virtual states have their own
organised groups. With the r a p i d growth of the Internet, its ubiquitous nature, the technologies available and the extensive use of this infrastructure by states, organisations and humans led to the creation of a virtual world that is closely related to and substantially influence the traditional physical world. All ICT Features are available on www.mita.gov.mt/ictfeature members or citizens. These “citizens” live within the borders of traditional states and will hold con-currently both national and de facto virtual state citizenship. How long will it be before an individual virtual allegiance takes priority over their national citizenship knowing that currently there exist no explicit penalties over selecting one over the other? An excellent example of this fact is the recent attacks in France on the Charlie Hebdo premises where French nationals have engaged in physical attacks on other French nationals since their loyalty was towards Islamic fundamentalism and not their home country. • Law Enforcement. Virtual states as yet do not have any recognition and thus do not have any legal personality. If they conduct criminal acts they are not accountable for their actions. Thus the challenge to states is the definition and control of virtual states from the legal perspective and the developments of methods to control such states. Virtual states are still in their infancy stages forming as communities (virtual nations) in the virtual world. Power in the hands of such communities is increasing due to the fact that their actions affect the international system and have an impact on traditional states. It is a matter of time when the existing virtual nations or virtual communities will be able to enter into diplomatic relations and finally be recognised as virtual states, co-existing with traditional states within the international system. Martin Camilleri is an Information Assurance specialist and currently forms part of the National Security Accreditation Authority taking care of INFOSEC matters, activities related to the protection of Government and EU classified information. He is also a member in the committee for the drafting of the National Cyber Security Strategy.