TRENDS IN THE FORMULATION OF INSTRUMENTS OF NATIONAL POWER: DIGITAL DIPLOMACY AS A FACTOR OF CHANGE IN MODERN DIPLOMACY

Abstract

The realization of national interests through the concept of developing and using instruments of national power is one of the most widely accepted strategic approaches. Defining national interests, as well as the manner of using instruments of power, is a characteristic feature of each individual state. The generally accepted model based on four basic instruments of national power: diplomacy, information, military power and economy, or the DIME model, is increasingly subject to certain corrections that are a consequence of rapid changes in international relations, but also technological development. Contemporary trends in the formulation of instruments of national power, as well as the potential of digital diplomacy as a factor of change in modern diplomacy, point to the profound transformation that the digital era is bringing to international relations. By presenting changes in the definition of instruments of national power, the authors will analyze the impact of factors such as artificial intelligence and social networks on contemporary diplomacy. Defining potential challenges faced by digital diplomacy will serve as an example of the complexity of the development and implementation of instruments of national power in the contemporary international environment, which is faced with great technological progress and the growing power of artificial intelligence.

The methodological approach represented in the paper is based on the application of the content analysis method and the structural analysis of a large number of scientific and professional works, as well as other relevant public sources. Using the hypothetical-deductive method, the authors draw conclusions that should prove the hypothesis that the instruments of national power are constantly changing and in that process encounter various challenges, which are a consequence of digital transformation, technology, but also very turbulent changes in international relations and the strategic environment. The aim of the paper is to define contemporary trends in the development of the instrument of national power and to examine some of the challenges that this process faces. In addition to the above, a special aim of the paper is to use the example of the transformation of the diplomatic instrument of power to explain some of the challenges that digital diplomacy faces as a contemporary form of traditional diplomacy.

In order to better clarify the methods, ways and challenges faced by the scientific community, as well as strategists, in defining the instruments of power and changes in them, this paper offers an example of how and in what way digital diplomacy has emerged as a new factor of change in traditional diplomacy. The authors will define a number of challenges facing digital diplomacy in the 21st century, with a special emphasis on artificial intelligence and social networks.