INTRODUCTION
From the beginning of globalization influenced after the cold
war, the nature of international relations increasingly changing too. A lot of
manners and new actors did diplomacy in this contemporary era. The effect of
globalization was more rapid and this happening to the appearance of the digital
era with the developing eras. Many human roles are replaced by sophisticated
technology, even with capacities that are sometimes higher than humans
themselves. In this digital era, agendas in international relations are often
carried out online based on digital media or technology, especially during the
social distancing period in 2020. By the development of technology in the digital
era makes the diplomacy movement which is done by many countries seems easier.
In addition to easily communicating, this advanced technology can also
facilitate relations between countries to conduct visual meetings with social
media networks, especially in 2020, where the Coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic
is widespread and impedes meetings that are mostly scheduled for some countries
in conducting diplomacy. But with the development of technology, digital
products can be used as a means to conduct meetings between these countries and
the scheduled meetings can run well without any delayed.
After the inclusion of digital-based technology, can
impact the manners and appear more regulations increasingly to make diplomacy
in this contemporary era. Even in terms of strengthening relations between
countries and in problems solving or conflicts between countries that often
occurred. Nevertheless, the kind of conflict that happened between countries
also can increase. Not just in a military conflict but also digitally conflict
will occur significantly. This digital conflict also eventually led to a new
role in diplomacy to resolve the dispute.
In contemporary diplomacy, conflict resolution can be done
by a third party when negotiation between countries cannot resolve this
conflict. The mediator is one of the third parties which often used to resolve
the conflict by doing mediation. The mediator is a connector who is not
involved in the conflict, where he is chosen by agreement of the two parties
who are involved in the conflict. But on the other hand, the social media war
in this digital era often makes a long time for two countries to reduce
conflict. The reason is, there are often irresponsible persons who trigger the
conflict in the media in the name of the two countries in conflict so that the
dispute is difficult to quell.
In addition to the existence of war through social media
or what is commonly referred to as digital conflicts, the emergence of various
media that provides fake news can also create a trigger for an increasingly
large conflict experienced by several countries. This is where the role of the
mediator increases because the data about the conflict he will mediate must be
obtained as valid as possible without any sense of partiality in one of the
countries involved in the conflict. Sophisticated technology can also trigger
wiretapping by interested parties who do not want peace in these conflicting
countries. This research will explain the plot of thought how this digital era
situation could impact the new roles and new challenges of mediator as the third
party to resolve the conflict between countries with it case study which can be
representative.
Mediation is one of the most important ways in helping to
resolve conflicts between countries because mediation has a concept that is
also through agreement from the countries involved in the conflict. This
concept also can help as much as possible so that conflicting countries can end
the conflict with a win-win result based on cooperation. In resolving
conflicts, mediation can be carried out on an agreement between the conflicting
countries and with the mediator who is also the result of the agreement of the
conflicting parties.
Mediation is the art of management challenges. Mediation
is designed to identify and prepare certain strategies in certain cases carried
out by the mediator (Afshari & Hadian Nasab, 2021).
On the one hand, diplomacy is one way to get the goals or needs of the country
through negotiation methods .
And on the other hand, diplomacy is the role of globalization in contemporary
diplomacy (Nurika, 2017).
In the previous researches, can be found that diplomacy is
the main tool to have a relationship with other countries until the country can
gain its national interest or gain it goals and needs of each nation. And
diplomacy has the main way which makes negotiation. The conflicts between
countries can be resolved through negotiations because basically, negotiations
are the process without military involvement. On top of that, when negotiations
have yet to find a solution to the conflict resolution, then the third party
can help bring about peace, with a permanent record through the agreement of
both parties to the conflict. Third-party assistance in resolving conflicts can
be in the form of mediation or arbitration (oltsman, Maria, Johannes Horner, Gregory Pavlov,
2013). But frequently, mediation is used by the conflicting
countries because it also involves the cooperation and involvement of the
opinions of the conflicting countries, so the result is most likely a win-win
situation. Differently within arbitration cases, which it does not involve the
opinion or input of the conflicting party yet the final decision rests with the
arbitrator (H�rner, Morelli, & Squintani, 2015).
On the other hand, the change in roles also creates
various challenges for mediators in resolving international conflicts in this
digital era as well as being a novelty that has never been found in previous
studies. Thus, this research with existing concepts is intended to find answers
to these problems.
METHOD
The research method which is used to obtain answers to the
formulation of the problems in this study is qualitative and the data obtained
are secondary. This research happened by the author which gets these data
through books, journals, and media based on the internet or the results of previous
researches that are processed by analyzing and presented by the author's
objectives to answer the existing problem formulation in this paper. And
afterward, the author links the results of existing research with the facts
which are happening based on the analysis that has been obtained. Similarly,
the location and time of this research are carried out in the practice of
international relations as a whole, because this research is generalized, in
the sense of time.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
1.
New Roles of Mediator
Since the emergence of the contemporary
era and the birth of the digital era, the world of international relations has
never been separated from conflicts or conflicts between countries. Different from
the previous era, the digital era has been contaminated with global effects so
that the conflicts that occur are not only conflicts involving the military,
but also digital conflicts or conflicts that occur through social media in
international scope. When the two conflicting countries have not been able to
dampen the conflict that occurs by way of negotiations, then mediation will
play a role by bringing a third party as the culprit. The mediator must reduce
the conflict over the agreement of the two conflicting countries that will have
a new role in this digital era. With the media that includes a lot of data, the
mediator must sort out well so that he can get the data that is actually
because in this era a lot of false data is often debated that is often found (Andika, 2016).
Hereinafter, the mediator has a role to make sure that there is no data tapping
during his research until he can get the real data and make the resolution happen.
Furthermore, the digital era can
facilitate the role of mediators when carrying out their duties as a third
party in reducing conflict. This can happen because sometimes the mediator no
longer has difficulties when going to hold the meetings with the two conflicting
countries. The online-based media can be used to hold virtual meetings or face-to-face
meetings without having any physical meetings which are often done especially
after the pandemic of COVID-19 takes place which causes social distancing
obligations. To avoid any delays or omission of meetings that have been
previously scheduled, the countries can continue to hold meetings with notes
that are taking place through digital-based media. Nevertheless, the digital
era brings a new opportunity to the crime actors slowly in the cyber world by
making fake news or hate speech but the suspect cannot be identified well
because of their sophisticated technology knowledge (Hamonangan & Assegaf, 2020).
In this case, the mediator also has a role to prevent any cybercrime act which
caused intervention between two conflict parties during the mediation process.
Because frequently, cyber domain security is difficult to be identified even
get any deterrence (Orsi, Avgustin, & Nurnus, 2018).
2.
New Challenges to Resolve the Conflicts
The increasingly sophisticated digital
technology in this era raises new challenges in resolving conflicts so that it
can make major changes to the world and give birth to a variety of new
technologies that are increasingly advanced. Technology in this digital age
brings many benefits from sharing fields such as politics, economy, social,
culture, defense, or security as well as information technology, but it cannot
be denied that every use has challenges. The development of technology is so fast
that it has an impact on the fabric of people's lives, it turns out not only to
change the order of social, cultural life but also political life. The
sophistication of technology developed by humans is very impacting and
exploited by politicians who want to gain sympathy, empathy from the wider community
(Richmond, 2018). To
find popularity in politics can be done with digital technology such as
smartphones, with the smartphone inside it is provided sophisticated features
or applications that connect directly in social networks that can connect
between individuals with one another, between one group and another group.
The digital world has also changed
activities in elections such as internet-based campaigns especially in pandemic
events like today where people are not allowed to gather more than five people,
so online politics becomes a choice with websites, e-mails, or podcasts. This
has become a facility for candidates and political parties to become the
easiest and the fastest means of sending messages to the audiences. The use of digital
media connected to social networks is very effective, especially in reaching
young people, who are often the most difficult parts of society to be involved
through conventional strategies (Apuke & Omar, 2020).
In the socio-cultural field, the digital
era also has positive influences and negative impacts that make challenges and solve
them. The work is hampered due to several things, maybe some people complain
nowadays. The presence of digital interaction among people has changed with the
presence of digital age technologies such as computers, especially in the upper-middle
class. Computers connected by telephone make it easier for humans to interact
and communicate via computers especially with the COVID-19 pandemic. The government
has ordered to work from home, this is felt by people to communicate and meet
through features or applications available to complete their work.
In the field of defense and security, the
use of technology in the digital age plays a role in helping national defense
and security includes military institutions. It has placed information
technology as one of the weapons that support military power and unity. In line
with the military work system that always demands the speed and accuracy of
information before making a military decision or strategy. The existence of
digital technology strongly supports the program. Information technology has
influenced changes in military strategy, challenges in the field of defense
such as facing external threats such as hacker activities that can damage the
defense system become a serious concern (Apandi, 2020). The
solution is by balancing the strength of the power of information technology,
strengthening the information system so that there are no more external
threats.
Above all, In conflict resolution, the
mediator has a quite challenge which he must also cooperate with various
parties, such as technology experts to prevent wiretapping or falsification of
data, intelligence parties to prevent misunderstandings, and cooperate with
politicians who have full power over the two countries conflict. This is done
to prevent failure in conducting mediation in this digitalization era. The
existence of cooperation with various parties can make it easier for a mediator
to carry out his duties for conflict resolution without having to side with one
of the parties to the conflict. On the one hand, the advances of technology in the
globalization era had presented various kinds of unpredictable challenges for
countries in conflict, but on the other hand, they also have various kinds of
positive benefits.
3.
The Technological Developments Can Aggravate
the Conflict
Technological developments in the digital era
at this time are felt to greatly influence the direction of the current
community, the presence of social media such as Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp,
and so on can open a new face in the development and dissemination of
information news so that news information can quickly spread in the community,
but the ease it has turned out to have a serious impact, social media turned
out to be a fertile ground for news - hoax stories. Hoax is fake news that is
spread by irresponsible actors just to get profit, so that hoax news only harms
others. That is because the information obtained by the perpetrators of hoax
distribution is unilateral information without knowing the truth. And in modern
politics, fake news or hoax news is information that is not true but is made as
if it is (Utami, 2018).
Since the coronavirus has infected China and
most of the world's countries, a lot of hoax news spread about the virus which
turned out to be false information. In this case, one of a brand that becomes
fake news victims was the news about the disease could spread through a Xiaomi-branded
cellphone. It makes some people who believe in care, will keep their distance from
everyone who uses a Xiaomi cellphone. And it will make a bad situation if all
the hoax news is trusted by the public. The dissemination of the Hoax news if
not prevented as soon as possible can adversely affect the community especially
for a mediator who has to resolve the conflict as a part of modern diplomacy (Constantinou, Gloster, & Karekla, 2021).
To maintain the hoax news mediator will also
engage the millennial generation to take a role in bringing society towards
better way changes. In maintaining the comfort of community-related to the spread
of the Hoax virus news, there are several things that the millennial generation
needs to do, the first one is to be wise in using the internet and use the
internet sufficiently. Seeing how social media is currently growing media hoax
news, then to prevent the big opportunities they are affected should limit with
more positive activities. Secondly, to cultivate good and correct reading to
get the core of a news story, we are required to understand the contents of the
news more. And it required not just reading a piece of news but overall
contents of the noble news from the title to the final sentence. So that they
are not easily fooled by the headlines, it can be merely a mere provocation.
If millennial generations join in
disseminating hoax news, it will affect the mediator who wants to resolve the
conflict because of difficulties to filter the media in this digital era.
Therefore students must be a news filter amid society. Furthermore, to give
definite information to the public and being a protector in preventing hoax
news about the coronavirus that tries to damage the order of the Indonesian
people is where the millennial generation are as agents of change and as agents
of social change in society. They have to give a discipline situation, safe
condition, and peaceful atmosphere amid the hoax news about the COVID-19
pandemic. Because basically, diplomacy strategies have been transformed in this
digital era (Dwikardana et al., 2017).
4.
The New Diplomacy Ways
Diplomacy in this globalization era underwent
many significant changes as a result of the development of information and
communication technology. The main characteristic of this era is the ease of
communication and the emergence of social media or netizens. This
computer-based technology allows everyone to share information, images, and
data in real-time. The world community no longer has restrictions in politics
and ideology that were rigid in the cold war era, so that in this era they can
communicate directly with each other without any obstacle. These various
communication patterns are supported by various social media such as Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and so on and can make words blended as well (Safitri, Diah Arifiana;, 2018).
These changes allow everyone including heads of state to communicate directly
with each other without going through ambassadors or diplomats as deputy heads
of state overseas. Negotiation functions, information, and services to citizens
such as visa management and others. It can be done on an online basis and
afterward that the term Virtual Diplomacy comes up. This has an impact on the
reduced role of ambassadors and diplomats as state representation. This change
will lead to the removal of the embassy because diplomatic activities can be
represented through the Virtual Embassy (Nejad, Sajad Bakhshi, 2019).
Changes also occur in global issues, which are
no longer dominated by political, defense, and military problems yet humanitarian
problems too. Although various diplomatic tasks have now been replaced by
information technology such as computers, the function of representation as a
sign of state sovereignty, negotiation, protection of citizens, and building
good relations with recipient countries still requires face-to-face
communication as well as personal. To overcome this, various systems and media
diplomacy are needed. As an example, if the target country of the country of
diplomacy is a young age group, then the actors, methods, and communication
media need to be adjusted to the situation and conditions in the recipient
country. Changes in mindset and the ability to use communication and
information technology also greatly affect the success of diplomacy today. The
development of the media can cause the occurrence of globalization, revolution,
and decentralization of government. The existing media makes the world
increasingly unlimited the information provided by the media is now not limited
by national boundaries. Sophisticated advances in information technology have
made the world more open to one another. These developments make access to
information easier, faster, and more open. The diplomacy system that was
previously only conducted at the negotiating table is now developing along with
the development of media and information technology. This then gave birth to
new concepts in diplomacy such as public diplomacy, personal diplomacy, network
diplomacy, and cyber diplomacy or digital diplomacy (Pamment, 2013).
Diplomats today must also be able to master
technology, diplomacy must be able to adapt to the development of the world
that exists today. There are many matters between government, inter-company,
and between individuals that do not require embassy intermediaries. That way
diplomats as trusted interpreters are required to know everything without
depending on the availability of information from the center (Hamonangan & Assegaf, 2020).
Diplomats in the era of advancement in media and information technology also
cannot cover up information or in other words, diplomats must have restrictions
when hiding information from the public and the media. The development of media
and information technology has become more advanced and unlimited. It is an
obligation for diplomats and the public who are participating in being
diplomatic agents to be wiser in responding to this fact and continue to adapt.
5.
Case Study: The Role of OANA to Solve Fake
News
The Organization of Asian News Agencies (OANA)
is an organization that works in all aspects related to news in the Asia
Pacific region and it was under the auspices of the United Nations of
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (Fernandez, 2016).
Almost every day OANA often finds fake news all over social media. And
definitely, that fake news is made by the parties who are not responsible and
do that just for their interests obtained. From that fake news that often
circulates, OANA argues that digital-based online sites can trigger
international conflicts. It was due to the large number of social media users
who enjoy news from digital sites and it is very unlikely that they will seek
the truth from the news first.
In resolving conflicts between countries
through mediation, the mediator can work together with OANA to find the actual
data as a means of knowing the steps that must be taken to resolve the
conflict. On the one hand, if an international conflict through digital sites
or media conflicts happened, the OANA can be a shortcut to become a mediator
for conflicting countries because actually, this organization is part of the neutral
actor which can be a mediator for resolving the conflict (Vietnam News, 2019).
OANA is also an organization engaged in the field of reporting so that the data
from online sites can be traced properly. But on the other hand, in determining
the mediator will not be separated from the same decision made by both parties
to the conflict. It happened because basically mediation is also carried out based
on joint decisions, especially to achieve peace between countries with the
concept of win-win through cooperation (Horne, 2013).
CONCLUSION
On the one hand, by the influence of globalization,
technological developments are also developing and experiencing a very
significant increase in sophistication in the digital world, so often referred
to as the digital era. In this digital era, news from every corner of the
country can be obtained easily through online media. This makes it easier for
data seekers in the international sphere to obtain it. But on the other hand,
widespread data in online media is not entirely true, so it requires
intelligence in sorting and retrieving these data. In conflicts between
countries that cannot yet be resolved through negotiations between the two,
mediation is often used as a shortcut to deal with them. It is in this digital
era that mediators will find many new roles and many challenges when resolving
conflicts. Mediators are required to be able to retrieve the most actual data
through digital networks and can reduce conflicts that are often also based on
online media networks. It happens because in this digital era the conflicts
between countries through digital-based sites are more common where
inter-country relations can occur.
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The[MD4] Role and Challenges of A Mediator To
Resolve The International Conflict in The Digital Era (Case
Study: The Role of OANA)