Diplomacy and quantum diplomat

A glance at the slow revolution of dual globalizations, quantum, metaverse, and artificial intelligence Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei stated: in the era of artificial intelligence, quantum, and the Internet, it is not possible to work with the same tools as 40 years ago; therefore, it is necessary to change the tools according to the times. In the human life cycle after the agricultural revolution, we are witnessing the industrial revolution, the information and communications technology (ICT) revolution, and now the slow revolution and, in other words, the permanent digital revolution.

A glance at the slow revolution of dual globalizations, quantum, metaverse, and artificial intelligence

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei stated: in the era of artificial intelligence, quantum, and the Internet, it is not possible to work with the same tools as 40 years ago; therefore, it is necessary to change the tools according to the times. In the human life cycle after the agricultural revolution, we are witnessing the industrial revolution, the information and communications technology (ICT) revolution, and now the slow revolution and, in other words, the permanent digital revolution. Globalization has become inevitable in this age, and its formation process is moving at high speed, especially with profound technological changes. But the process of globalization that has created it has its concerns. In paragraph 20 of the requirements of the 20-year vision document of the Islamic Republic of Iran, attention is paid to globalization and constructive interaction with the natural process and trend of globalization and confronting the project of globalization of the West and the unipolar system and unfair relations in the world refers to the three discourses of development and production of knowledge, peace and the process of globalization.

 

The phenomenon of two globalizations

In the comprehensive model (paradigm) of two globalizations, the first look is on the distinction between the world of modernity (physical) and the globalized world (virtual). In the next step, explaining and differentiating these two globalizations are simultaneously intertwined, and paying attention to multiple globalizations within these two globalizations. From this point of view, the most important change in the contemporary world, which forms the basis of future changes in the world, is the competitiveness of the real and virtual world. The emergence of the new world, i.e., the virtual world, will affect many trends, attitudes, and capacities of the world today and in the future. This world is actually drawn parallel to and sometimes dominates the real world and finds real objectivity. In the case of Singapore, the virtual world is so developed that it is comparable to the physical world. The process of intelligentization in both worlds with globalized computer tools marks the immediate path of life, such as nuclear medicine and so on.

In a way, it can be said that virtual colonialism in the field of politics, economy, and culture is shaping the change in human relations, the emergence of emerging religions, new knowledge systems, and different social practices. This trend has been achieved with the simultaneous emergence of the communication industry and all industries related to computers, intranet (closed and defined network communication), and the Internet, and it has become possible to convert objects into numbers and analog things into digital things. In the virtual world, in all fields of politics and economy, including cultural membership, cultural belonging, cultural identity, and most importantly, cultural and civilizational power become serious, and in the two-spatial culture, we witness physical and virtual migrations and physical-virtual migrations under the influence of this space. In other words, we are facing a fundamental change in the concept of life and entering digital life. The future of the world is called post-globalization; the virtual world will prevail over the real world and the formation of the war without war phenomenon, which is the war of symbols and signs. Therefore, if we look forward-thinking and with a Mahdavi approach, the knowledge of good and evil in creating this situation provides many capacities for social conflicts and, at the same time, multicultural understanding and agreement.

 

Diplomacy and quantum diplomat

Quantum diplomacy was first discussed in 1997 in a conversation between Shultz, the US Secretary of State at the time, and Sidney Durrell, an American expert in pure physics. In quantum physics, observing one thing is as difficult as observing the same thing. Schultz responds that quantum diplomacy is to put a TV camera against something that is not the same. In other words, in the interconnected, globalized world and uncertainty in formats such as technologies and media, we are witnessing a change in the concept of diplomacy. The Newtonian diplomacy of the 17th century and the negotiations between the two governments have given way to quantum diplomacy and the emergence of new actors. Although the role of the government in the official negotiations still maintains its position, it is affected by these emerging actors. Therefore, a quantum diplomat is a person who simultaneously manages two spaces of secret negotiations and negotiations in the public eye. Certainly, in addition to changing and creating a quantum organization, such a diplomat needs the necessary and new tools of the digital age. Quantum Diplomat's tools include artificial intelligence and other new technologies with the characteristics of high speed and low cost. For example, chat JPT's intelligent programs using artificial intelligence in the field of knowledge, simultaneous translation, providing consultation and various scenarios for political, commercial, military, and even nuclear negotiations that have been used in the case of Iran and in the war between Russia and Ukraine can be mentioned.

Quantum diplomacy is based on systemic thinking and organizational structure and is affected by the chaotic and complex external environment (and not a predictable periodic). Therefore, a constructive relationship must be established between the people of the organization (internal) and the external environment. Adapting and understanding changes and creating positive conditions, knowing the quantum or a creative and intuitive way to do things optimally, conflict on the condition of management in the direction of creativity, and synergy with the group activity are the quantum organization components. A systemic and process look at issues and turning employees into intelligent and active contributors centered on the organization, that is, a bottom-up look that is creative and collaborative. Newtonian physics is a subset of quantum and cannot properly analyze small causes or tiny particles such as electrons and nuclei of atoms and molecules. Therefore, Taylor's scientific management is the Newtonian model, the quantum age is the technology age, and Newtonian objectivity is replaced by quantum mentality, and the organization is dynamic and not static. In the quantum paradigm, the world is like a dynamic and growing network of communications, and day by day, we witness the diversity and complexity and the birth of new worlds. The element of understanding this complexity is self-awareness and intelligence. Unlike Taylor's management, where human is like a bolt and nut of a machine in the office environment, in quantum management, human is creative and intelligent. Therefore, contrary to the Newtonian approach, diplomats and employees of the diplomacy department do not work according to the formal and defined quantum practice but in vertical and horizontal forms, and strategic decisions and strategies to achieve goals are ongoing in a cyclical manner.

 

Metaverse

Mark Zuckerberg, the Chairman of Facebook, which has changed the company's name to Meta with globalization, says that humanity will migrate to the metaverse in the future, leaving the real world to join the world that we create and completely rule. Metaverse is the successor of the Internet and is a combination of digital and offline realities by doing several tasks at the same time with the ability to contact, sense, and feel in contact between the human brain and subsidy. He is trying to create a metaverse with a capital of 10 billion dollars and employing 10 thousand people with 18 data servers in America, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, and Singapore. In this regard, the metaverse has been defined as beyond existence, but its concept is the development of the chain of the advanced digital world, realities, and business models that use the tools of virtual reality, enhanced, developed tools, and the designs and technologies of 5G and Web3, etc. Dubai, for example, invites thousands of companies in the blockchain and metaverse to implement a metaverse strategy in public services, tourism, education, and real estate agencies to achieve 40,000 virtual jobs in 2030. Because of its sensitive relations with China, Taiwan is seeking to develop a metaverse. South Korea is planning metaverse Seoul as an ecosystem for all government services and people's complaints, and Saudi Arabia and Dubai are also planning to create a multi-billion-dollar metaverse city and its twin metaverse city, respectively.

After the birth of the Internet in 1991, the history of the metaverse was formed in the first step in the form of a virtual 3D image in 1992, according to Neal Stephenson's scientific legend called the metaverse. In the second step, with the wide and intertwined scope of 3D advanced communication and social networks through information exchange, it was strengthened and led to the evolution of blockchain, bitcoin, etc., and will soon become an inevitable part of human life as the next revolution in the Internet. Metaverse is a virtual space parallel to the real world, and the technologies involved in it are communication and chip infrastructure technologies, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communication, and mobile network, and secondly, mobile equipment, smart glasses, etc., and thirdly, 3D engine, virtual, mixed and augmented realities, and geographic information mapping, fourthly, the economic design of financial markets, fifthly, the discovery of networks and content distribution, and sixthly, experiences such as games and virtual sports, so that metaverse, based on Maslow's pyramid, seeks to make a new space in the real world of humanity by discovering the needs. In other words, the metaverse is an interconnected network or set of sub-networks that is asymmetric yet symmetrical, concentrated yet scattered, virtual yet real, regular yet irregular, individual originality yet collective originality, and competition yet cooperation. This mass of data causes data geopolitics and provides the possibility of access or special ability without limitations in space and time. In this regard, the pervasive pattern of connectivity or data flow channels gives meaning to all geopolitical fields, including friendships and enmities. In the world of metaverse connections, we see the Z generations between the ages of 1997 and 2012, or the Internet generation and the Alpha generation born between 2010 and 2027, who have grown up with smartphones, and the next generation will be the generation of artificial intelligence. Google has moved the company's strategy from mobile-first to artificial intelligence-first. In this regard, the citizens' game in the meta paradigm and data governance models are significant points to study in political science.

 

Artificial intelligence

In general, artificial intelligence is considered to be machine learning data, solving specific problems, studying and designing intelligent subjects, and using experiences to perform various tasks. In this regard, big data is a combination of institutionalized data (financial and monetary, etc.), quasi-institutionalized (Web server logs & streaming data from sensors), and non-institutionalized data (texts, documents, multimedia data, etc.), which is used by organizations to extract information and use it in machine learning projects and create predictable patterns. With the increase of information, artificial intelligence is getting closer and closer to the real world, and it can reach from a tool and assistant to a dominion over mankind. The deeper connection of the human brain with the computer, the copying of the brain, and the collection of all data and its analysis are among the future projects of the metaverse. Artificial intelligence is a slow revolution that will lead to commercial, geopolitical, and environmental dominance and capabilities in military strategy and superiority in national and global control. Artificial intelligence has been defined as a soft power in the digital age that affects the world of humanity, or data in big data companies will take the place of oil in big oil companies, and artificial intelligence diplomacy will become a subject. Digital life changes all aspects of life, including political life; therefore, paying attention to data, information, and knowledge are three important points. For example, Michel Foucault has pointed out the connection between knowledge, power, and domination in his works. In this regard, quantum computing is one of the newest tools that, when combined with artificial intelligence, solve many complex national problems such as resource allocation, global problems such as climate, etc., or on the contrary, it can be used as a weapon against national information security and access to military control systems. One of the efforts in this field of quantum artificial intelligence is to predict the management of terrorist attacks, financial threats, unrest, etc.

The value of the artificial intelligence industry will reach 15.7 trillion dollars in 2030. The global digital gap and the superiority of some countries, that America and China will be superior in 2030 should be important points for other countries. It is predicted that 70% of jobs worldwide will use artificial intelligence by 2030, increasing 14% of global GDP, which is about 16 trillion dollars. In 2015, in the Made in China (MIC) 2025 document in its ten-year strategy, China strongly emphasized intelligent production in ten strategic industrial sectors, and in the 2017 document of the State Council of China, the development of artificial intelligence was emphasized as a strategic technology, and that, in the Chinese army, a strategic technology will inject new kinetic energy in all dimensions of national competition and in China's economic development. In the United States, this matter has been paid attention to since the time of former President Obama, and during the time of former President Trump in 2019, his first executive order was to maintain America's leadership in artificial intelligence, and current President Biden also emphasized on large and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and the quantum computing and the competition of great powers, which has the ability to change the economic and military balance between countries. In this regard, in order to block China's progress, it was decided to obtain a license to export chips from the United States to China and Russia in 2022. In addition to applying sanctions policies, the United States has united with chip manufacturing countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, and has provided incentives and transferred chip manufacturing factories to the United States and finally invested heavily in this technology.

 

A few suggestions

1. Preparation of the document of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding artificial intelligence and the concentration of this responsibility in the Vice President of Science and Technology by allocating the necessary budget and specialized staff, as well as creating a chair for geopolitical studies and connections in the universities of our country at the master and Ph.D. levels.
2. Designing new tools needed by managers and experts for optimal use of software facilities and artificial intelligence is also a necessity, considering the speed of development of two globalizations. Through these tools, you can access the data generated on the Internet at any level. After the data is collected by intelligent programs, it is summarized, translated, and analyzed, and experts can record their opinions in the form of propositions and provide them to different levels of the organization.

Mohammad Khoshheykal Azad and Mohammad Reza Mofatteh, senior experts of the IPIS

(The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the IPIS)