Digital Peace Blog

Hybrid peacebuilding concept – online video conference with blurred participants on a laptop, contrasted by a green plant symbolising human presence and growth.

Hybrid Peacebuilding – Re-Thinking Digital Development

From Zoom diplomacy during COVID-19 to ongoing negotiations in fragile states, digital tools have changed how peace is built. Yet no screen can replace the rituals of presence — the handshakes, shared spaces, and subtle trust that sustain peace. This article explores hybrid peacebuilding as a way to merge digital inclusion with the irreplaceable power of face-to-face interaction, balancing opportunity with risk in the digital age.
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Person in a dark hoodie using a smartphone, symbolising Pegasus spyware surveillance in Europe

How Spyware is Rewriting the Rules of Democracy

Pegasus spyware Europe has turned smartphones into weapons of surveillance, piercing the heart of privacy and trust. What once seemed like the tool of authoritarian regimes has quietly entered Europe’s democratic core. From Poland’s elections to Spain’s independence movements and Germany’s secret purchase, spyware is no longer just a foreign policy concern - but a domestic democratic crisis. This article explores how Pegasus spyware reshapes European democracy, undermining press freedom, competitive elections, and the citizen–state relationship itself.
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Close-up digital artwork of a human face made of binary code, split into blue and red halves, symbolizing AI bias, data-driven influence, and polarized information.

Rewriting Truth – the AI Manipulation Era Has Arrived

AI is becoming an unseen editor of reality itself. With US oversight dismantled and “anti-woke” neutrality redefined, political agendas can now guide what AI says, what it omits, and how billions worldwide come to understand the world. From curated search results on Truth Social to loosened safeguards on Elon Musk’s Grok, we are entering an age where AI shapes opinion one private conversation at a time. This article traces how deregulation in Washington is setting the stage for a global wave of AI systems that claim impartiality while quietly rewriting truth.
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Abstract digital artwork showing distorted text with words like “create,” “harmonize,” and “disrupt” – symbolising the conflicting forces at play in peace influencing and digital communication.

Rethinking Influence in the Age of Algorithmic Warfare

In today’s landscape of information warfare, where war influencing has become a prevalent force, using digital communication to divide, manipulate, and destabilise; peace influencing could serve as a vital counterstrategy. This article explores digital peace through the lens of peace journalism and media theory, tracing how narratives shape conflict and cohesion alike. It examines the historical role of media in war, the transformation brought by social platforms, and how strategic communication is now being reclaimed to foster dialogue, empathy, and democratic resilience. From global grassroots efforts to evolving norms in digital communication, it argues that influencing for peace is no longer idealistic, but necessary.
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Blurred human face partially obscured by strands of glowing lights, symbolising cognitive overload, digital entanglement, and the loss of mental clarity in the age of algorithmic influence.

The Hidden Democratic Cost of Cognitive Offloading 

We increasingly let machines think for us, not just in everyday choices, but in how we navigate reality itself. Cognitive offloading describes this process of delegating mental tasks to external systems. What begins as a tool for convenience can quietly erode our ability to notice, remember, and decide for ourselves. As artificial intelligence mediates how we access information, make decisions, and even perceive the world, this quiet handover of our cognitive autonomy is not only convenient, but becoming dangerous. This article explores how cognitive offloading undermines our ability to think critically, and why that erosion poses a structural threat to our democracies.
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Person holding up a rectangular mirror that replaces their face, reflecting only blue distortion. The background shows a metallic shutter in digital blue tones. A metaphor for emotional loss of self in the age of social media.

Why Emotional Intelligence is a Democratic Skill

In an age where outrage is monetised and emotional manipulation is engineered at scale, emotional intelligence is no longer a wellness trend, but becoming a democratic necessity. This article explores why individual emotional resilience should be recognised as a key pillar of democratic resilience in the 21st century and how developing it could be the most overlooked defence against digital polarisation and political manipulation.
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Photograph featuring four teenagers sitting closely together on a rooftop, focused on a laptop, symbolising access to AI and the right to development. The setting appears urban, with weathered buildings and a tree in the background.

Empowering Youth: AI and the Right to Development

AI is transforming the foundations of global development. But while policies are written and principles debated, youth — especially from the Global South — remain systematically excluded from the rooms where decisions are made. In this article Irfan Pullani traces the Right to Development from the 1986 UN Declaration to the 2025 RightsCon Summit, where young delegates demanded a decolonial, equitable approach to AI governance. It explores why their participation is essential and what’s at stake if we fail to listen.
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A black-and-white photo of a lamppost covered in worn stickers, one of which reads “BIG DATA IS WATCHING YOU.” The blurred city lights in the background create a dystopian feel, underscoring the urgent need to reclaim digital sovereignty.

Why We Need to Talk About Data Again.

Data is the defining resource of the 21st century, but the question of who owns, controls, and benefits from it has become strangely opaque. This article revisits the idea of digital sovereignty in light of three technological frontiers: the Internet of Things, Brain-Computer Interfaces, AI and its acceleration through quantum computing. It traces how regulatory retreat and public disengagement have opened the door to unprecedented forms of data extraction, including from the human brain itself. The fight for data rights may well be the defining democratic struggle of our digital future. This article calls for a renewed public conversation about data as the foundation of democratic self-determination.
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A high-resolution aerial photograph of a modern city at dusk, featuring illuminated highways with streaks of traffic lights and a subtle digital network of softly glowing lines and nodes, visually representing IoT connectivity across buildings and infrastructure beneath a fading sunset sky.

How IoT Security Risks Enable Modern Cyberwarfare

The Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming the invisible infrastructure of modern life: deeply integrated but wildly insecure, and increasingly inescapable. This article explores the escalating security risks of a connected world, where everyday devices like baby monitors and smart meters can be weaponised. It asks what happens when digital participation becomes mandatory, and argues for a Digital Peace approach that puts rights, resilience, and democratic oversight above profit and convenience.
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Close up of a quantum computer

How Quantum Computing will affect Global Security

Quantum computing is no longer science fiction. As new processors reach milestones in error reduction and qubit counts, they raise urgent questions about digital sovereignty, cybersecurity, and global inequality. This article explores how quantum technologies might reshape international security frameworks and asks whether their development will serve the public interest or reinforce existing power asymmetries.
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