Doha, April 09 (QNA) - The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies has issued the book entitled: "Cyberspace and Power Shifts in International Relations" by Dr. Khaled Walid Mahmoud.

The 376-page book offers an in-depth vision of one of the most pressing and contemporary subjects in the literature of international relations and the social sciences. It probes the uses of cyberspace and the avenues through which it infiltrates, influences, and interacts with shifting international contexts.

In addition, the book sets out to study the cyberspace evolution, reviews its strategic depth and rapid impact on formulating the roles of actors in international relations, the approach they pursued in this field to strengthen their influence, in addition to advancing the instruments of their influence and creating competitive and strategic merits in an evolving global stage.

Dr. Mahmoud strives to answer the research question: To what extent has cyberspace contributed to shaping a new form of power in international relations, through demonstrating the significance of this space as an increasingly critical component in delineating the distribution and diffusion of power elements, and a domain for international interactions, as well as a stage for further competition and disputes.

The book concludes with the foremost takeaways and offers practical suggestions to develop effective strategies in countering cyber challenges, chief amongst which is the fact that cyber power has become today one of the substantial factors that bolsters the power of state and non-state actors, as this power enables them to practice influence and outperformance in the international system.

Interestingly, cyber power is a complement to conventional power, as it supports the strategic objectives without superseding this conventional one, and it is not characterized by destructive or coercive military power, but rather distinguished by its intangible capacity to infiltrate and exert influence across various domains.

The impact of cyberattacks squarely corresponds with levels of technological advancement, whereby states with highly digitized sectors become literally more exposed to their effects. This phenomenon surfaces as a form of asymmetric warfare, particularly when digital capacities diverge among rival actors, turning cyberspace into an unbalanced theater of confrontation.

The foremost recommendations of this book underscore the importance of creating an Arab model to gauge cyber capabilities, along with the consequentiality of the academic dimension in studying cyber politics, or cyber policy. As a contemporary framework for understanding transformations in international relations, there arises a pressing need to cultivate cyber culture and awareness by developing Arab knowledge content commensurate with the mounting challenges in this domain. Equally imperative is the redirection of the research agenda toward the fundamental issues posed by cyberspace. (QNA)