The issue goes beyond old worries during the Cold War that the Russians would tap into the cables — a task American intelligence agencies also mastered decades ago. Could it halt the instant communications?
http://venturebeat.com/2015/10/25/the-u-s-worries-russia-will-cut-undersea-internet-cables-during-times-of-conflict/
I am not sure if this issue is a bluff by one side or a kind of propaganda by the other side. Something I know is the risk here is that any country could cause damage to the system. What would be the consequences, crises, and economical damages if such thing occur, I wondered?
One of the characteristics of the ongoing "cold war II" is that information is produced and manipulated at will. I would personally consider the very news two times or three time more, before coming to any conclusion.
Just look at what T. Blair said: "I apologise, because we went into a war under non-evidente information" - more or less words.
Internet via satellite will be available. I do not believe that such scenario is possible!
Yes, this scenario is a strategy of the Cold War, with the availability of satellite Internet.
It better not even think about it. The Russian soul is unpredictable. We know it from 1968 (Czech !!!).
Dear @Ljubomir Thank you for your short answer. You are right. Internet uses many media for data transmission including satellite. If we go back to 60's and find out the original motivation for inventing internet then we should not worry of possible failures. As long as alternative paths exist, traffic can switch quickly to an alternate path when a link is cut off or router fails.
Yet new possibility are being proposed. For example He and Rexford review new idea of multipath routing techniques including multihoming, tagging, tunneling, and extensions to existing Internet routing protocols.
Jiayue He and Jennifer Rexford, Towards Internet-wide Multipath Routing
I think nothing bad will happen if Russia cut undersea Internet cables as other option of internet are available.
Dear @Ivo Carneiro de Sousa, Thank you for your detailed and sincere comments. Actually It seems my questions is misinterpreted and is turned into a "cold war" escalation between West and East type of question! But I was really looking into the scientific opinions on technical issues in the event such disruptions (wherever) occur, its effects (what so ever) and possible solutions (alternatives) rather than mere political aspects or propaganda issues. I too believe as you said "international relations must respect diversity" of all nations irrespective of what their language, color, race, religion would be.
Before 1961, the relationship between the U.S. & the Soviet Union was "really" tense. After the Vienna summit between President Kennedy & Premier Khrushchev, the two countries agreed upon cooperation in ousting the former imperial powers from the high international club & to reduce them into followers. The disintegration of the Soviet Union produced a much more weaker inheritor (Russia). Putin is real friend of U.S. & he knows very well that his country cannot compete with or challenge America. He has worked hand in hand with the Americans in many world problems.
Forget about the misleading media & the false political analyses that try to deceive you & me. We do not see, as scientists, any of the 2 countries harming each other "really". In fact the under-table deals are thriving between them (Remember the WTO case) .
Therefore, I do not think that Russia will cut undersea Internet cables. On the contrary, they will protect the cables as long as the "special" relationship is there. No "true" conflict is foreseen in the near future.
The internet has transformed lives and economies but it is turning the world into a global village. So if we are the citizen (aka farmers!) in this village then we should discuss global issues in an open-minded way. There is no more west or east we all belong to same village!
One last comment: The question I asked here was something you have seen on TV in News or Reuters News Agancy. For presenting this question in RG, I was awarded with 3 down-votes so far! Thank you for all the participates those who commented and discussed on this issue openly and the anonymous down-voters.
What do you think would happen if Russia cut undersea Internet cables during times of conflict? Could it halt the instant communications?
Regardless what happened when undersea Internet cables being cut, it will impact Internet connectivity as exemplified in previous rounds of such incidents - see links below for history, effects & causes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_submarine_cable_disruption
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_submarine_cable_disruption
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/mar/28/damaged-undersea-cable-internet-disruption
What we need to do as organizations or governments that might highly dependent on Internet connectivity needs to roll out deemed important Crisis Management, Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (DR) Plans etc so that we will not have Single Point of Failure. Before such incidents happened, we need to do all the needed inclusive risk assessments, business impact analyses, DR planning, DR solutions deployments, simulation test, continuous DR improvement etc.
1 of the possible DR options we might have is to deploy the Airborne Internet. Airborne Internet is being defined from Internet (see link below) as "a proposed network in which all nodes would be located in aircraft. The network is intended for use in aviation communications, navigation, and surveillance (CNS) and would also be useful to businesses, private Internet users, and government agencies, especially the military."
http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/definition/Airborne-Internet
Agreed with other scholars had pointed out, mutual respect is paramount important between countries / between people throughout all eras. I think:
Win-Win = Mutual Respect + Commitments
Dear @Mahmoud, some more reading about the issue!
"The most significant human threat to cable systems has never been intentional sabotage. This has been an anomaly in the history of cable disruptions. The biggest threats are from boats that unintentionally drop anchors or nets on cable systems. Some cable companies allocate hundreds of thousands of dollars annually just to repair these disruptions, which they assume will happen. The best protection against this threat is the publication of cable routes, so that way fishermen and other boaters won't accidentally break them. Military cable routes, on the other hand, are kept classified."
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34639148
http://www.wired.com/2015/10/undersea-cable-maps/
http://www.wired.com/2013/04/how-vulnerable-are-undersea-internet-cables/
http://www.vice.com/read/we-asked-an-expert-what-would-happen-if-russia-cut-the-pipeline-to-the-internet
Al Gore may not have “invented the Internet,” but Uncle Sam has always held the keys. Until now.
The current Internet is not the ideal one. Ideaally, we need Internet from being monopolized. With the world's internet population predicted to reach 3.4 billion by 2016! But the sad story is that the U.S. government can arbitrarily use the root DNS zones as a vehicle for its geopolitical agenda, perhaps deciding that certain countries don't deserve to be on the Internet!
http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/u-s-surrendering-control-internet/
Very true Dear @Roland. Plus we worry less about the socio-environmental impacts that all these Internet and information technologies will have on our children's future. Something we can guess that in 10 years from now social life will be turned into virtual social life on the net(!), a big risk of future IT revolution, unfortunately.
Dear George and Carlos, and a lot of RG-s of the thread, thank you for your answers.Dear Mahmoud,thank you for this not very simple question, for your bravery (downvoters are forever). As for Russians,Russians don't dictate,they offer,but in the extreme situation they always help others.The face of Russians is wise,multicultural,experienced,long-suffering,honest,friendly,beautiful.Russians are pure spiritually,old-fashioned,poor,unpretentious,peaceful,patient.To Lapin Sergey,"Russians are unhappy,but wish happiness,benefit,brotherhood to all people of the planet.They (I mean ordinary people) have no hope to get rich.They know,where,there money smells,there spirituality won't smell.Our country has been unhappy since 1904 (it became plagued by the war,where it was obliged to defend itself and others), it has been with weakened economy since 1914, it has been with weak economy since 1917; it has been with ruined economy since 1924,1945; it has been with miserable economy since 1990".To D.P.Razumikhin,"You can't skip a nature using only logic.Logic predicts 3 cases among 1 mln.ones".Russians know that poverty is a vice which corrupts a personality,causes despair and find salvation in their loving souls, living in the "heartland".Love is in our blood,DNA,historical memory.To Solovyov,"We are Russians,God is with us" .The situation is hard and unpredictable in the world.May be,we will appear in the isolation.Who knows? Unfortunately,not all depends on us.Russians believe in the best.Not long ago we were so happy to destroy "the iron curtain'.2010,"Blueberry Hill"(international charitable action).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV4IjHz2yIo
Why should Russia cut the undersea internet cables when
he knows very well that we can communicate by satellite?
Уважаемая Ирина, вссе šто вы написали возмоžно для русского народа платит. Но ваšе правительство?
Dear Irina, all you wrote is valid for the Russian people. But your government?
Dear Josef,
"In the theatre of policy the leading roles are played behind the scenes"(G.Agatsarsky).To G.Simanovich,"Legitimate government makes mistakes lawfully".Besides,"Making plans for tomorrow,our government doesn't prevent our folks from living life one day at a time"(A.Pashinin)."Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof"Matthew 6:34 Спасибо! Mockrát děkuji
http://www.aphorism.ru/440.shtml
Unfortunately honesty and dishonesty exists everywhere be in governments, in politics, in commerce, in religion, .., but people and nation are always trustworthy.
A quote from Kapil Dev: "from In the long run, I believe that honesty is definitely the best policy. One can get away by being dishonest for a short term, but ultimately, honesty is what pays."
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