The G7, Russia and China need to immediately work together to stop a sharp global slide toward chaos and anarchy due to the rise of dangerous technology, increased use of the Darknet and the proliferation of cryptocurrencies, Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman told The Jerusalem Post.
In an interview that will be published in Friday’s Magazine, Liberman detailed a dire picture of the world as well as four catalysts behind the slip toward global chaos.
First, he said, is the emergence of technology-driven by artificial intelligence and young hackers who are capable of doing things with their computers and cell phones that were unimaginable just a few years ago.
“These are technological developments that have no oversight or coordination,” he said. “There is no form of global regulation, and it takes us to places that are potentially frightening.”
The second catalyst, Liberman continued, is the rise of cryptocurrencies across the globe. There are, he said, 15,000 different types of cryptocurrencies today.
“Every few people get together and make a digital currency,” he said. “There are crypto markets in Iran to evade sanctions and to launder money, and it can be used to finance terrorism and crime.”
The third catalyst, according to Liberman, is what is happening on the Darknet, a gathering place for criminals and terrorist activities.
The fourth catalyst, he explained, is the breakdown and collapse of international order and systems.
An illustration of this, he said, can be seen in Vienna, where the world superpowers continue to negotiate with Iran in pursuit of a new nuclear deal. They speak to the Iranians at the same time that Iran is supplying the Houthis in Yemen with ballistic missiles and drones and ordering them to attack the United Arab Emirates.
The solution, he said, is getting the G7 – an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – to work with Russia and China to find ways to regulate a new world order and to stop the slide toward global chaos.
“You need all of the players together to create uniform regulation in all of these different fields since if you don’t, everything will move in directions that will make the movies we see in Hollywood turn into a reality,” he warned. “There is time to act. I hope they do.”
The full interview with Liberman will appear in Friday’s Jerusalem Post.