14Инновационные аспекты развития науки и техники УДК 32.019.51
Далецкая Татьяна Анатольевна Daletskaya Tatyana Anatolyevna
доцент кафедры перевода и переводоведения associate professor of the department of interpreting and translation Новосибирский военный институт имени генерала армии И.К. Яковлева войск национальной
гвардии Российской Федерации Novosibirsk Military Institute named after general of the army I.K. Yakovleva of the National
Guard Troops of the Russian Federation
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN THE NEW ERA ЦИФРОВЫЕ ТЕХНОЛОГИИ В НОВОМ ВЕКЕ
Аннотация: В статье рассматривается концепция "цифровой дипломатии". Большое внимание уделяется описанию цифровых технологий и их влиянию на новый мировой порядок. Анализируются информационные коммуникационные технологии и, в частности, описываются социальные сети как инструмент воздействия на общество.
Abstract: The paper deals with the concept of «digital diplomacy». Much attention is paid to the description of digital technologies and their impact on the new world order. Information communication technologies are analyzed and in particular social media instruments are described.
Ключевые слова: дипломатия, цифровая дипломатия, информационные и коммуникационные технологии (ИКТ), мягкая сила, социальные сети
Key words: diplomacy, digital diplomacy, information and communication technologies (ICT), soft power, social media
The 21st century is the era of digital technologies while the previous century is considered to be the revolution in information and communication technologies: the Internet emerged in the 1970s in the USA has affected all fields of humanity it had an impact on intercultural communication, politics, economy, social life on a global scale. The Digital 2020 reports show the numbers of Internet users in the world is 4,54 billion people while social media use is 3,8 billion people that is 49% [2]. In Russia Internet users are 118 million people that prove 81% of the population is online. Essentially, active social media use is about 48%.
II Международная научно-практическая конференция
Nowadays we assume that public life is impossible without Internet traditionally defined as a system architecture that has revolutionized communications and methods of commerce by allowing various computer networks around the world to interconnect [1]. According to the statistics the world's most used social platforms are Facebook, Youtube, Whatsup, FB Messenger, Wechat, Instagram, Tiktok, QQ, Qzone, Sina Weibo, Reddit, Snapchat, Twitter, Pinterest . People communicate 24 hours a day without barriers.
Changes in technology require changes in politics as well. Politicians were looking for new ways of interacting with people and diplomacy was not an exception. Thus the beginning of the new century is associated with the term digital diplomacy often used interchangeably with e-diplomacy, cyber-diplomacy, diplomacy 2.0, twiplomacy and so on.
Traditionally, diplomacy is the established method of influencing the decisions and behaviour of foreign governments and peoples through dialogue, negotiation, and other measures short of war or violence [4]. The term digital diplomacy implies that politicians and diplomats use social media as a special instrument to promote their ideas, to communicate and influence the audience globally. At the core of the concept is the idea of soft power defined by American theoretician Joseph Nye who stressed that in the era of information and communication technologies political and military strength of the state depends on information resources: the country that shows itself in the best light is the winner.
It was the USA that focused on the idea of "networked diplomacy" when information is not closely guarded but easily shared between like-minded governments[3]. The USA first established the Office of eDiplomacy at the U.S. Department of State which employed about 150 workers for 25 offices.
Currently, the accent of digital diplomacy is shifting from interacting with politicians and diplomats to involving the general population into political communication. As Alexander Yakovenko, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United Kingdom, stressed that "successful digital communication is not about just issuing press releases - it is as much about conversation and interactive engagement.
Инновационные аспекты развития науки и техники Even negative comments have the power to stir up discussion and help to get the original message across" [6].
Anne-Mary Slaughter, Director of Political Planning at the US Department of State from 2009 to 2011, also contributed to the philosophy of the digital diplomacy. She pointed out that the global agenda would be determined by the states with the most extensive network of channels. At the core of such diplomacy is the idea of discrediting the ideological opponents of the United States. In 2011 the revolutions in the Middle East showed that digital diplomacy programs could be used as a driving force for organizing massive protest movements and overthrowing the political regime of the country.
Many countries around the world use digital diplomacy. How are Russia and other countries going to counteract such processes? First, Russia has its local search engine (Yandex) and social network (VK) that successfully compete with foreign rivals. Second, digital diplomacy is considered a useful tool for promoting Russian positions using various digital platforms by the president and government. Bright examples are Facebook posts by Maria Zakharova, Director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, official Instagram account of Foreign Ministry, Telegram channel, Periscope, Facebook, and VK, Twitter, live Q&A sessions, quiz with YotaPhone. In 2017 a special section was created on the website of the Ministry to rebut fake news about Russia. Russian Ministries and departments upload recordings and short clips from official meetings and briefings.
To conclude, it is critically important for the country to develop new digital projects aimed at promoting national values, interests and goals in the world. In recent years the concept of soft power using social media has become an instrument to interfere in the affairs of foreign states, a method of organizing mass protests and color revolutions all over the globe. To counteract such processes is of great importance for a sovereign state that is why all advantages and drawbacks of the electronic information environment should be studied. The developed and promising instruments of digital technologies should not be the sole power of the United States.
II Международная научно-практическая конференция
References:
1. Dennis M. A. Internet. Encyclopedia Britannica. [Electronic resource] URL: https://www.britannica.com/technology/Internet (retrieved 19.11.2020)
2. Digital 2020: 3.8 billion people use social media [Electronic resource] URL: https://wearesocial.com/blog/2020/01/digital-2020-3-8-billion-people-use-social-media (retrieved 19.11.2020)
3. Hanson F. The History of eDiplomacy at the U.S. Department of State. October 25, 2012 [Electronic resource] URL: https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-history-of-ediplomacy-at-the-u-s-department-of-state/ (retrieved 19.11.2020)
4. Marks S., Freeman Ch. S. Diplomacy. Encyclopedia Britannica [Electronic resource] URL: https://www.britannica.com/topic/diplomacy (retrieved 19.11.2020)
5. Shakirov O. Russian Digital Diplomacy in 2016 [Electronic resource] URL: https: //www.sodd16. com/russian-digital-diplomacy-in-2016-oleg- shakirov/ (retrieved 19.11.2020)
6. Yakovenko A. Russian digital diplomacy: clicking through. September 07, 2012 [Electronic resource] URL: https://www.rbth.com/articles/2012/09/06/russian_digital_diplomacy_clicking_throu gh_18005.html (retrieved 19.11.2020).
