The impact of cyberspace on the principle of non-interference in the affairs of states

This research aims to clarify the concept of cyberspace and explain its dimensions, threats, and impact on the international community, especially its implications for the principle of non-interference in the affairs of states, and to review the problems of applying the principle of non-interference in cyberspace, especially after information wars have become a mediator in the relations of states with each other at the political levels. economic, social, military, and informational, influencing the international system, the global distribution of power and the sovereignty of states. The importance of this research comes in light of the existence of a legislative gap between international law and cyber wars, especially since international law has not kept pace with technological changes, and this has posed a threat to legal standards that limit the use of force in international relations, and there is a clear gap between the rules governing international relations. And the actual practices of the members of the international system, as the information revolution brought about changes in military capabilities, affected the full knowledge of oneself and the opponent, and contributed to the complexity of efforts to differentiate between military and civilian targets. The research reached several results, the most important of which is that Article 2, Paragraph 4, of the Charter of the United Nations, is flexible enough to absorb or adapt the attack through cyberspace with similar effects to the use of conventional military force, that is, electronic attacks that cause severe material damage to individuals or facilities, and then requires the application of sanctions stipulated in Chapter VII of the Charter as an illegal prohibition of the use of force, and the research recommended the necessity of reaching an international agreement to limit information weapons, as was done in the case of weapons of mass destruction, and to include all weapons and tools of cyberspace warfare.