Advancing cyber diplomacy in the Asia Pacific: Japan and Australia

ABSTRACT

The stability in the cyber domain is rapidly deteriorating on several fronts marked by increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, declining consensus on global internet governance and intensifying great power competition. These challenges were critical turning points among nation-states to recalibrate prevailing cyber diplomatic engagements. This article investigates the increasing prominence of deterrence in the practice of cyber diplomacy in the Asia Pacific. Using Japan and Australia as case studies, it argues that both states continue to adhere to the conceptual tenets of cyber diplomacy, however, in practice, there is a growing integration of deterrence—cyber capabilities and public attribution/naming and shaming—in the equation at varying degrees and intensities. The article endeavours to make two important contributions: First, revitalize the existing cyber diplomacy framework by challenging the extant literature’s view of deterrence’s limited application—underpinned by cold war analogies—and the implausibility of conducting attribution of cyberattacks. Secondly, evaluate Japan and Australia’s cyber diplomacy based on empirical evidence. Key findings suggest that deterrence reinforces/complements the fundamental elements present in the cyber diplomacy playbook. While slight variation exists, there is a strong acquiescence between Japan and Australia to expand existing cyber cooperation to tackle critical and emerging technologies, supply chain, and data governance.

KEYWORDS:

• Cyber diplomacy
• Japan
• Australia
• cyber deterrence
• cybersecurity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 For example, the US Cyber Policy Review (2009), International Strategy for Cyberspace (2011) and National Cyber Engagement Strategy (2018) sit alongside China’s White Paper for the Internet (2010), Japan’s International Strategy on Cybersecurity Cooperation (2013), Australia’s International Cyber Engagement Strategy (2017); and the ASEAN Cybersecurity Cooperation Strategy (2017). See complete or updated list at: https://unidir.org/cpp/en/.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Pacific Forum under the Lloyd and Lilian Vasey Fellowship.

Notes on contributors

Mark Bryan F. Manantan

Mark Bryan F. Manantan is currently the Lloyd and Lilian Vasey fellow at the Pacific Forum and concurrently, a non-resident fellow at the Center Southeast Asian Studies at the National Chengchi University in Taiwan. Recently he was based at the Center for Rule-making Strategies at Tama University in Tokyo, Japan, and East-West Center in Washington DC as a 2020 US-Japan-Southeast Asia Partnership in a Dynamic Asia Fellow.