Russia in Global Affairs

A few weeks ago, as we planned our coverage of Russia’s election, my colleagues and I at Kommersant, a Moscow-based daily newspaper, discussed whether we should prepare an overview of the foreign policy proposals of all eight candidates running for president. I argued it wasn’t worth it. What’s the point in analyzing seven programs that have no chance of being carried out?

Without increased cooperation, the global digital economy is vulnerable to catastrophic cyberattack.

The fact that the first wave of hacktivism died out does not mean that a second or third wave will not follow. Next time it would be even easier to bring people together, since they would have a clear vision of what they can achieve together.

Regular news reports on cyberattacks, information leaks, hacking and their political consequences have been dominating the headlines. Cyberspace turned out to be an efficient means to bring people together and to exert their will, which governments have to reckon with.

The leaders of major cyber powers have declared an intent to restrict their actions in virtual space. This new weapon looks too lucrative indeed. Major crises will be unavoidable until the main players realize that mutual restrictions and the rules of the game are crucial.

Not so long ago Russia was the only country to advocate the adoption of a code of responsible conduct in cyberspace. Today the expert community is already actively discussing the need for such a code with regard to the global Internet infrastructure.

Diplomats can work without any doctrines or concepts in turbulent or revolutionary times. Admittedly, the contrast between foreign policy conceptual basis and practice in the Russian case looks outrageous at present.

It is very hard – in most cases impossible – to track down the source of a cyber attack. Since the U.S. and Russia have reserved the right to respond to cyber incidents like they were conventional acts of aggression, the two countries must work out confidence-building measures.