As governments and tech giants battle for influence in the digital world, a new book by Qatari scholar Dr Khaled Walid Mahmoud shines fresh light on a question at the heart of modern geopolitics: who really holds power in cyberspace?Titled Cyberspace and Power Shifts in International Relations, the book dives into how technology corporations now rival nation-states in shaping public behaviour, controlling data, and defining the global flow of information.Published by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS), it is a timely addition to Qatar’s growing body of research focused on innovation, governance, and digital transformation.Dr Mahmoud, who holds a PhD in Political Science, is Senior Manager of the Media and Communication Section at the Doha Institute. A specialist in cyber politics, he has also written extensively for regional newspapers on issues where technology, power, and policy intersect.In an exclusive interview with Gulf Times, Dr Mahmoud explained that major technology companies are “no longer neutral economic actors; they have become influential political players capable of shaping information flows, public behaviour, and the digital public sphere.”He added that the state’s traditional monopoly over regulation and control “has been weakened,” creating a new configuration where power is increasingly shared between governments and digital platforms.Dr Mahmoud warned that the bursting of a “technology bubble” could trigger disruptions far beyond financial markets — potentially undermining the digital backbone of economies, governance, and security. He argued that dependence on a few dominant platforms increases systemic vulnerability, reopening urgent global debates on digital sovereignty, data protection, and states’ resilience in the face of corporate dominance.A key contribution of the book, he said, is its close examination of whether the international system can develop effective global cyber governance. “While awareness of the need to govern cyberspace is growing, most frameworks remain inadequate. They are still bound by the logic of state sovereignty, while cyberspace itself transcends borders,” Dr Mahmoud noted.He pointed out that current efforts “remain fragmented and largely non-binding”, often shaped by “power imbalances between major states and large technology firms”, leaving digital rights and democracy dependent on political will rather than enforceable global norms.Dr Mahmoud argued that while the state is not disappearing, sovereignty is being reshaped. Technology corporations now wield regulatory authority over data, algorithms, and digital infrastructure, creating a hybrid order with weak accountability and shifting power from territory to opaque digital systems. The outcome, he warned, is a challenge to transparency, equality, and democratic trust — making algorithmic accountability and ethical safeguards vital.Addressing the Global South, Dr Mahmoud said these nations risk a new wave of dependency if they remain primarily consumers of technology. “When digital systems and data are controlled externally, it reproduces old inequalities through new means,” he said. “The challenge is not the technology itself, but the lack of national cyber policies, and insufficient investment in research, education, and capacity-building.”He emphasised that digital technologies and AI bring immense opportunities to expand learning access — but also hand vast influence to big tech firms over educational content and standards. “Without deliberate cyber-policy and educational governance,” he warned, “societies risk deepening cognitive and technological divides. The goal should be to transform AI from a product of commerce into a tool for knowledge empowerment and educational sovereignty.”
