Evolution of the US — Russia relations in the area of international information security: A retrospective study

Abstract

In November 2021, Russia and the United States submitted a draft joint resolution on international information security to the UNGA First Committee, which was a significant victory for Russian diplomacy in the formation of an international information security regime. For a long time, Russian-American relations in the field of international information security have been developing on the basis of a confrontational model, while these two states are the most active actors in the global information sphere. The general trends in the formation of an international information security regime depend on the nature of relations between countries. The article presents a historical analysis of cooperation between Moscow and Washington in the digital environment and assesses the impact of the historical experience of interaction on the prospects for the development of bilateral cooperation in the field of international information security. Methodologically, the authors base the research from the theory of defensive realism, according to which the factor of perception of the priority of threats to international information security is an important factor in bilateral interaction. The more significant threats are perceived from the point of view of national security, the more likely is the development and deepening of international cooperation aimed at shaping the rules of conduct in this area. The article examines the evolution of threats to international information security in historical retrospect. Based on the perception of the priority of threats, the evolution of the formats of bilateral interaction in the field of international information security is shown. It has been proved that the perception of the priority of threats in the field of international information security contributes to the development and deepening of bilateral cooperation, which in the future can develop into a full-fledged regime of international information security, based on the rules of responsible behavior of states in the global information space.