Russia’s war in Ukraine has undoubtedly been game-changing for Europe’s security, challenging the long-held beliefs and assumptions of many Western nations and prompting dramatic shifts in policy, for example, in Germany, Finland, and Sweden. The war’s conduct has also produced significant surprises, not least the unexpectedly poor performance of Russia’s supposedly reformed military.
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The second brief in the “Russia’s War in Ukraine” series concerns the war in cyberspace.
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In 2021, Estonia and Norway served as elected members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Both being relatively small states, defending multilateral cooperation and rules-based international order were important common goals.
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Despite a barrage of cyber-attacks from state and non-state actors, NATO’s recent communiqué reaffirmed a defensive commitment to cybersecurity without proposing new offensive responses. While some may characterize this response as ineffective, pursuing diplomatic and economic retaliation to low-grade cyber threats offers the best outcome for the Alliance.
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Estonia and Japan are among the leaders in cyber diplomacy and cybersecurity on the global stage, Japan also being a key strategic partner for the EU and NATO. They have many similarities in their approaches to cybersecurity and state behaviour in cyberspace, which has established solid ground for closer bilateral ties. This report, authored by leading Estonian and Japanese researchers of cybersecurity policy, gives a valuable insight into the experiences and perspectives of these two countries, their success stories and challenges in building a secure cyberspace, as well as the potential for cooperation.
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Despite the geographical distance between them, Estonia and Japan share many similar security challenges, such as potential destabilisation in cyberspace due to geopolitical tensions and conflicts, the vulnerability of national digital infrastructure, and the impact of cyber-attacks on trust in open, democratic societies. Tackling such challenges requires close international cooperation and the exchange of national best practices and experiences.
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China under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is poised to become the world’s first technology enabled totalitarian superpower. No country will be untouched by this development, including Estonia, where a Chinese state-owned technology company Nuctech specialising in “security solutions” monitors cargo crossing the NATO border with Russia using a radiation-based technology originally copied from Europe.
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This report revisits the spring 2007 crisis in Estonia, centred on the World War II memorial known as the Bronze Soldier statue. The crisis is well-known both in Estonia and abroad. It was one of the first wake-up calls to the cooling of relations between Russia and the West. It also involved the first use of wide-ranging cyber-attacks against a state.
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In the course of 2018-20, development of Fifth Generation (5G) communication networks has been increasingly influenced by the considerations of national security and geopolitics.
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Increasingly, China’s expanding role in the evolution and development of both the global economy and digital technologies must be acknowledged.
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