Decoupling Trade and Cybersecurity : A Way to Recalibration?

This article aims at providing an alternative explanation to cybersecurity conundrum in trade. This article takes a systemic and holistic stance to observe cybersecurity by applying an institutionalist approach to analyze the cybersecurity provisions in free trade agreements (hereinafter “FTAs”) and the norm-making processes on cybersecurity under the auspice of the United Nations (hereinafter “UN”). The observations indicate that the cybersecurity provisions in FTAs may serve as implicit diversions from the trade commitments, while the norm-making processes on cybersecurity under the UN produce a minimum public order. This represents a shared understanding of states that international law falls short in the context of cybersecurity, although it is necessary to give greater attention. As the shared understanding may incentivize interactions between decision-making processes, the trade rules may further have less constraint on state behavior in the context of cybersecurity. In this regard, cybersecurity “decouples” from trade disciplines, which enables the states to recalibrate the multilateral trading system. Furthermore, this article considers that the “decoupling” arises from receiving and reconstructing the mercantilist practices pertaining to cybersecurity. Finally, this article considers that institutional linkages would be a way to recouple trade and cybersecurity, although there would still be a long march