Abstract:
The rise of technology has impacted any aspect of society including conventional manufacturing; creating the Fourth Industrial Revolution whereby technology and human interaction increase and machines are connected to each other. This phenomenon is called digitalization, which can help nations to be more prosperous by increasing productivity. However, digitalization comes in line with challenges; one of the challenges is cyber attacks. In response to such a trend, Germany and Japan both established their own initiatives on digitalization which are Industrie 4.0 and Society 5.0. With mutual interest, the cooperation regarding digitalization and cyber-security between Germany and Japan foster. Thus, the author would like to analyze how they cooperate by their own implementation of diplomatic practices. In this research study, the author will use a technological determinism approach to see how technology can influence national interest and four dimensions of an integrative diplomacy framework which are context and location, rules and norm, communication pattern, and actor and roles to see how Germany and Japan use diplomacy as an instrument to cooperate with each other. In addition, to create a systematic way to solve the research problem, the author uses qualitative descriptive methods in analyzing the cooperation between Germany and Japan. As a result, the author found that the context, location, communication pattern and actors of diplomacy of Germany and Japan have developed throughout the years even though the rules and norms remain the same.
