DIGITAL DIPLOMACY AND CYBER SOVEREIGNTY IN 10 CARIBBEAN ARCHIPELAGIC COUNTRIES (Comparison of Indonesia and 10 Countries in the Caribbean)

Abstract

The country in the Caribbean Islands is said to be the Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Where a small country in it is actively involved in international diplomacy and technology development. According to a report from the Commonwealth Consultative Group, if a small country in a region does not have military or economic power to use, they will be forced to rely on diplomatic means in conveying their national interests in the context of international relations (Cross & Mike, 2020: 3). In the international world, every country is faced with a relationship called diplomacy. The international community and the world community have institutionalized identities and shared interests between countries to place the creation and maintenance of shared norms, rules and institutions (Buzan, 2014). Along with technological developments, the role of diplomacy is initiated digitally, known as cyber-diplomacy. Cyber-diplomacy can be defined as diplomacy in the cyber realm or in other words the use of diplomatic resources and the performance of the diplomatic function to secure national interests related to cyberspace. Such interests are commonly identified in cybersecurity or national cybersecurity strategies which often include references to diplomatic agendas. Therefore, cyber-diplomacy is carried out in all or in part by diplomats who are brought together in bilateral forums (such as the Indonesia-Columbia dialogue) or in multilateral forums (such as at the United Nations) (Owen, 2015). The starting point of cyber-diplomacy for the first time can be found in the publication of the US International strategy for cyberspace in 2011, which was the first government document worldwide to focus entirely on the international aspects of cyberspace problems. Strategic identity uses a number of priorities (economy, network protection, law enforcement, military, internet governance, international development and internet freedom), while relying on three pillars to achieve diplomacy, defense and development goals (Barrinha & Renard, 2017) As the analysis in this paper is the analysis of diplomacy between Indonesia in the Caribbean Islands. Not all countries in the Caribbean Islands have diplomatic relations with Indonesia, so the existence of Social Networking Analysis (SNA) through Twitter data grabbing and processed with the Gephi 0.9.2 application will show how much influence and diplomacy interests of countries in the Caribbean Islands have on Indonesia. and vice versa. Ancient Diplomacy in International Relations according to Hamilton & Langhorne (in Dwikarna, et al. 2017: 22) is defined as follows, “The beginning of diplomacy occurred when the first human societies decided it was better to hear a massage then to eat a messenger. If that has been agreed than there have to be rules which assure the safety of the messenger, and if there are rules, there has to be some sanction for them”. From old diplomacy to new diplomacy, which no longer involves formal relations between countries but shifted to diplomacy activities with non-state actors such as the mass media, non-governmental organizations, the public, and multinational companies. In addition, with the development of technology along with the times, new diplomacy leads to digital diplomacy. It is said to be digital diplomacy because the diplomacy approach carried out by a country involves digital media such as social media (Facebook, twitter, website), social networking sites (SNS) based state sites, the internet, and mobile devices. So, we can analyzing digital diplomacy through twitter media processed in the Gephi 0.9.2 application, this paper also describes Cyber Sovereignty. Cyber sovereignty is defined as the ability of a country to regulate cyber space in an internal context based on digital platforms. Through the maltego application and also processed in the Gephi 0.9.2 cluster application, which is discussed both in the Caribbean and comparisons with Indonesia, such as cyber infrastructure, cyber application, and cyber core. The categories analyzed in each country are in cyber diplomacy such as the ministry of foreign affairs, the ministry of interior, cyber authority, the ministry of communication and technology, the ministry of defense, and the ministry of police and military.