How will the global network and metauniverse affect international politics?

source ： The web

author ： Bai Yunyi A heavy task

“ The wealth code of the times ” Meta universe , How to influence international politics ？

since 10 Social media giant Facebook at the end of the month （Facebook） Renamed Meta, Officially enter the yuan universe （metaverse） since ,“ Meta universe ” The popularity of the word remains high . At that time ,“ Yuan universe concept stocks rose by turns ”“ Yuan universe virtual real estate transaction price doubled in half a year ”“ The size of yuancosmic luxury market is as high as tens of billions of dollars ” And other relevant news , The meta universe seems to have become the wealth code of this era .

12 month 10 Japan ,Meta Open virtual world platform Horizon Worlds, Officially took the first step to make the meta universe a reality . While large technology companies and start-ups try to turn the concept of metauniverse into a viable business model , Barbados, a Caribbean island country, announced that it would 2022 year 1 month 1 The digital Embassy on behalf of sovereign countries was officially operated in metauniverse on August 1 . Regarding this , Some experts warned that , The meta universe has potential “ National security ” significance , It is breaking the circle from the economic field to the field of international political and social governance , Will be of great significance to the political systems of various countries 、 Economic and social impact .

Meta The newly released meta universe platform Horizon Worlds in , All created characters have only the upper body , So game player make complaints about it. “ A bargain ”.

Engage in diplomacy through the Internet , Is the effect good ？

This year, 8 month , Barbados Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved one of the world's largest digital platforms Decentraland An agreement signed by the company , An embassy will be set up on the company's meta universe platform , It is expected that 2022 year 1 month 1 Day of operation , It aims to open the door to the country's technical and cultural diplomacy . meanwhile , The Barbados government is considering cooperation with Super World and Somnium Space The possibility of reaching an agreement with other meta cosmic platforms .Decentraland The company has a 3D The digital world , from 90601 block “ land ” form . In order to act according to law , The government of Barbados has also engaged legal counsel , In order to make the digital embassy comply with international law and 《 Vienna convention on diplomatic relations 》 The provisions of the .

Argentina TN News television said , Barbados's posture is avant-garde , And has an exemplary role that can not be ignored for other countries . But this is not the first Embassy in the world to be built in a virtual world .2007 year , Maldives in video games 《 Second life 》 A diplomatic office has been set up in .《 Second life 》 Very popular at the beginning of this century , Also built a virtual “ The digital universe ”. after , Other countries have followed suit , Serbia 、 Northern Macedonian 、 Malta 、 Israel 、 The Swedish 、 the Philippines , And Colombia are 《 Second life 》 A virtual embassy has been opened in .

however , Whether in the 《 Second life 》 The era of is still the era of the present meta universe , Opening a digital embassy is more of a symbolic action , It's hard to be a true representative of a country . Argentina TN According to the analysis of news TV station ,“ Some avant-garde gestures often risk lack of content ”, More than ten years ago in 《 Second life 》 Where are many virtual embassies opened in ？ The yuancosmic embassy is just a facade , There is no real content support .

“ The effect of diplomacy through the Internet is not good .” Brett, former White House director of global engagement · Brun told Sky News , New technology is unlikely to replace the old way of diplomacy . He said ,“ Diplomacy will remain stubbornly in the old way of contact , Although having a twitter account or a metauniverse Embassy can be used as a supplement , But it certainly won't completely replace the real Embassy . Only a few countries can effectively improve their status online .”

“ Up to now , The meta universe has not yet formed a very shaped way of experience , In fact, it is still mainly presented in the form of web page interaction , And add some components such as virtual reality , At present, it is hard to imagine that embassies of various countries can complete visa processing and other projects in embassies in the meta universe .” Li Zheng, a researcher at the American Institute of modern international relations, is accepting 《 The global times 》 The reporter said in an interview , The opening of an embassy in metauniverse is still at the conceptual level , And register an account on social media 、 Or set up your own Embassy website 、 Or make one on the mobile phone APP, There's no difference in nature .

Li Zheng stressed that , In the future, if the meta universe technology and ecology are more mature , Maybe some countries will set up virtual embassies based entirely on the meta universe , Can perform the functions of the existing Embassy . But this technology integration and operation , How to make all kinds of people generally accept , It still needs a relatively long process .

Professor, School of Journalism and communication, Tsinghua University, Shenyang 《 The global times 》 The reporter said , There are several important differences between an embassy in metauniverse and an embassy on social media such as twitter . First, there are changes in time and space , Twitter is flat , In the metauniverse, there is an immersive embassy with three-dimensional scenes ; Second, on social media such as twitter , The embassy focuses on text and video interaction , But in the meta universe , Virtual characters carry this function ; Third, in the future, the Embassy in the meta universe may become a link in the diplomatic system in the meta universe , May assume some economic functions , Nor can it be ruled out that it may have a certain impact on the diplomatic relations of sovereign states .

“ It's like a group of people on earth went to Mars ”

actually , Activities in the political field around the meta universe are increasing . Except Barbados , The Seoul municipal government of South Korea recently announced to build a public service center for citizens “ Meta cosmic platform ”, It is expected to be completed by the end of next year at the latest , Tentatively named “ Meta universe Seoul ”.

For the foreseeable future , National and regional governments or public authorities have successively participated in the construction of the meta universe in different ways , Some experts believe that , These new developments will bring a series of problems and challenges to the traditional international political order .

“ It's like a group of people on earth went to Mars , At the very beginning , They need to rely on supplies from the earth 、 help , But as we slowly become self-sufficient on Mars , The distance between them and the people on earth will gradually alienate . The breakaway of the North American continent from the commonwealth was also such a process . future , A similar thing may happen between sovereign governments and the founders of the meta cosmic platform .”

Shenyang thinks , If Internet companies are allowed to issue cryptocurrencies , Something like Facebook、 Google 、 Technology giants such as Apple will gain greater voice in the international financial field , The balance of power between them and sovereign governments will change greatly . In the future, with the maturity of robot technology , It may also provide violent machines for these giants .“ Especially in western society , The interference of large Internet companies in the election may be more obvious —— in fact , Now such clues have begun to appear .”

“ The vision of the meta universe raises some substantive questions for scholars studying international relations ”, Israel's digital diplomacy blog website said , at present , The different meanings of the state at the digital level and the entity level are easy to distinguish , But in the meta universe , This difference will disappear . How will these affect the relations between countries and the basic functions of the multilateral system ？ What kind of international law and new censorship rules does the metauniverse need ？ How will the government take action to prevent meta cosmic radicalization ？

meanwhile , Digital crime is at the digital level 、 At the physical level , Or both ？ let me put it another way , Can the government avoid the mistakes of irregular social media companies ？ Will the owner or creator of the metauniverse be the next global power broker ？ Will the countries that build the metauniverse become the new apple and Google ？ If so , How can their power be checked and balanced ？

In an interview with 《 The global times 》 When interviewed by reporters , Li Zheng explained the possible influence of the meta universe in the field of international relations ： Yuancosmos is a key concept recently launched by some large technology enterprises in the United States , But at present, it is only in a very early stage of development , Therefore, its rules and governance are still in the initial stage . The present , These technology enterprises must comply with the requirements of national sovereign governments in artificial intelligence 、 data 、 privacy 、 Rules formulated in areas such as security , And create and develop on the basis of these rules . therefore , At present, the development of the meta universe is still under the category of national governance in reality , It is also difficult to break away from the governance of the country in a short time .

Of course , In the process of creating or establishing the meta universe , It will also form some mutual recognition consensus 、 Rules and conditions , But whether these rules can really become the rules of the whole meta universe with practical significance in the future , It's hard to say now .

“ Nowadays, the concept of meta universe has a strong Western color , The applications and concepts based on it are also more in line with the relevant rules and values of European and American countries , But whether this concept is suitable for China ？ I think further research and evaluation are needed .” Li Zheng thinks , Because the meta universe relies on the digital economy ecology and governance rules of various countries , The meta universes of different countries are also likely to be incompatible 、 Even conflict situations , They will also have the color of international competition .

China should avoid “ Click the wrong technology tree ”

Although the metauniverse is still in its early stages of development , But it's “ The technical features ” and “ Development model ” indicate , It has potential national security significance . Hong Kong 《 South China Morning Post 》 call , The potential risks associated with metauniverse include a series of network security risks and “ Technological hegemony ”. Countries with relatively backward technological development will be at a disadvantage when seeking access to the meta universe of leading countries , May face discriminatory thresholds and requirements . Countries with relatively backward development may have shortcomings and gaps in metauniverse related technology and industrial chain , Even if they want to catch up through their own efforts , You may also have to bear higher costs , Or increase the dependence on other countries' technologies and standards in this process .

meanwhile , Yuancosmos will also have an impact on the political systems of various countries 、 Economic and social impact . for example , It will become a national “ Political trends ” And part of its social culture , And have a negative impact on the political and cultural security of the country “ A subtle influence ”. These risks mean , The development of the Yuan Dynasty needs the necessary supervision and guidance of the government .

Shenyang right 《 The global times 》 The reporter said , Whether it's called “ Meta universe ” still “ Next generation Internet ”, Several important changes will take place in the global society .“ First , People around the world will be more closely connected through the Internet , From ideology to consumption habits , Then to aesthetic preferences , It is possible to further homogenize . secondly , With the help of the perfect filter of artificial intelligence , For the first time, human beings may have sex 、 appearance 、 Languages 、 The five equal rights of race and color , The globalization of virtual world will further accelerate . Third , Economically , The use of robots may increase significantly in ten or twenty years , When the labor cost of robots is lower than that of some underdeveloped countries , The rising path of many developing countries will be basically blocked , And countries with stronger capital and technological forces will become beneficiaries , The international pattern is likely to solidify . Last , The relationship between large multinational enterprises and governments will undergo further adjustment , You can see , In recent years, European and American supervision in this area is being strengthened , New things will have a strong impact on the existing social order , And the existing social order will also have a huge reaction .”

There is a view that , Large technology companies may become an important issue in international politics to some extent in the future “ The player ”. Regarding this , Li Zheng said , This idea has been supported by globalization and Western neoliberalists in recent decades , But in reality , Whether in China or the United States , The political influence of large Internet companies is subject to many restrictions , It has not formed a political role independent of the State .

On the contrary , They are not only subject to state regulation , Also subject to the pressure of public opinion , And their transnational expansion , It will also be affected by the local expansion to a considerable extent “ rebound ”—— This can be called “ Scientific nationalism ” Of “ bounce ”, Far greater than the international influence exerted by these multinational Internet enterprises .

As for how the Chinese government should deal with the emerging thing of meta universe , Shenyang suggests , China should first study the core technology of the meta universe , Avoid... In the process “ Click the wrong technology tree ”, This may lead to the backwardness of the whole industry ; The second is to create a relaxed 、 But the atmosphere of public opinion that can be accurately managed , Control major strategic risks , abandon “ Completely zero risk ” The concept of , because “ zero risk ” Also often means “ Zero return ”; Third, we should encourage China's high-tech enterprises to go global , China and the United States will have fierce competition in the meta universe in the future , In the end, competition may still become a problem of market size , If Chinese enterprises only occupy the Chinese market , And American companies occupy a large number of markets outside China , Then there will still be the problem of power imbalance between China and the United States .

Singapore English e-magazine 《 Thinking about China 》 call , The primordial universe offers an opportunity to experiment , To improve or even completely change the current global governance system . With the maturity of metauniverse related technology , When sovereign states and international organizations also play an active role in the meta universe , It is possible to replicate blockchain based “ Decentralized autonomous organization ”(DAO) The concept of , And create a new... In the metauniverse “ Autonomous United Nations ”. Without being influenced by any center of power , All countries or international organizations act as DAO The node of , Regardless of its physical size or strength , All have equal voting rights , To meet the common digital threats and challenges faced by the virtual world , Such as network security 、 Digital finance and digital inequality, etc .

In the meta universe of the virtual world , Effective methods for global governance are also expected to be learned 、 Transform and copy into the real world , In this way, countries can also cooperate 、 Coordinate and jointly respond to global threats and challenges , Such as geopolitical conflict 、 Climate change, 、 Food security and social inequality, etc , Thus opening a new chapter for human civilization .