Mexico’s role in the transition to the multipolar world: cooperation with Russia in the area of artificial intelligence as a space of opportunities

Modern international system is undergoing important and profound changes. It is in the midst of transition to the multipolar world with different centers of power and influence. Historically, Western countries have concentrated political, economic, and technological dominance in their hands, however, the trend has changed: new dynamics of power is being formed with an undeniable increase in the impor tance of People’s Republic of China, Russian Federation, and BRICS as opposed to the systemic problems of Western countries. Transition to the multipolar world became an obvious fact, but the question is how to occupy a privileged place in terms of development. In 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that “whoever leads in AI will rule the world”. This statement turned out to be true, as artificial intelligence and other technologies have the potential to change economic and industrial dynamics at the fundamental level. Technologies are crucial for the emergence of so-called great powers. The dominance of the British Empire was largely a result of the Industrial Revolution, that of the Soviet Union mostly resulted from its achieve ments in the aerospace industry, and that of the People’s Republic of China was due to the dominance in 5G technology. Artificial intelligence with its potential to create predictive models and analyze large amounts of information becomes the key element and a competitive advantage over other countries. How to develop a strategy in the area of AI that would allow one to occupy a privileged position in the transition to the multipolar world, and what are the stra tegic alliances required for this? The main idea of the essay is that compatibility and complementarity of the development models of Mexico and Russia in view of their economic and demographic characteristics create a solid basis for strategic cooper ation in the area of artificial intelligence. The essay discusses six critical factors for development of an efficient strategy regarding AI and opportunities for coopera tion between Russia and Mexico: 1) regulatory and legal framework and intellectual production, 2) demographics and labor force, 3) access to natural resources and supply chains, 4) availability of digital infrastructure and data architecture, 5) polit ical will and mutual interests. Regulatory and legal framework and intellectual production The first step towards development of general AI strategy is availability of a comprehensive regulatory and legal framework that ensures interaction between state and private entities and civil society actors. Proper regulation promotes cre ation of an ecosystem for discussion that will enable implementation of innova tions and extrapolation of technological achievements to all spheres of society, which supports comprehensive development. Regulation at the state level is only possible under conditions of wide academic discussion among experts in the areas of technology, law, business, and politics. According to the Global AI Index Russian Federation ranks 31st in the world in terms of artificial intelligence development, while Mexico is on the 45th place. In this sense, Russia is a regional leader, as it is implementing projects in various areas, such as research centers in universities (AI Research Center at the Higher School of Economics and Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science in St. Petersburg), companies (Gazprom and Rostec) and within the framework of state strategies. At the same time, Mexico still has a long way to go in accordance with its national strategy of development in the area of artificial intelligence.
In this sense, Mexico could use Russia’s experience in regulatory issues, as well as establish international cooperation agreements with the academic focus (exchanges, internships, research programs) to continue the long tradition of friendly and joint relations between the two countries. 

Demographics and labor force 

Demographic realities in Russia and Mexico are very different, however, situations in both countries complement each other. Russian Federation is the largest country in the world regardless of the demographic decline of the recent decades that can be seen on the diagram. This is important for understanding of the pro duction structure. 

Upon consideration of the data from Bibliometrix, one may note that Russia is a leader in terms of the number of experts working in the area of programming and data analysis, which is an important index of digitalization. At the same time, Mexico is leading in manufacturing and assembly of technologies, including such industries as transportation and construction. There is an area of opportunities here: Russia can offer its extensive technical expertise and leadership in the area of technology while Mexico has labor force to produce and assemble electronic components and microchips required for AI implementation. This requires efficient management of natural resources and access to the world’s markets.

Access to natural resources and supply chains 

The privileged position of both countries plays the decisive role. Russia is a transcontinental country, the largest country in Eurasia, and has ground communications with China and Europe, as well as access to the Middle East and the Arctic Ocean. Mexico being situated in North America is closely connected to the US economy and has access to both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This makes it possible for both countries to trade with the world’s largest mar kets: US, China, and Europe. Besides, they have an opportunity to develop bilateral trade across the Pacific Ocean with the use of the ports of Vladivostok and Guadalajara or even via the prospective arctic route connected to the New Silk Way. Efficient AI strategy also requires access to strategic natural resources, such as large reserves of lithium in the state of Sonora. At the same time, Russia has powerful energy industry that perfectly complements development of technol ogy. In order for resource sharing and supply chain optimization to reach their full potential it is necessary to ensure coordination between state and private entities. The key areas for implementation of this strategy are digital infrastructure and data architecture. Availability of digital infrastructure and data architecture Digital infrastructure is the most important component for implementation of any technological project. Digital infrastructure means hardware and software, quantity and quality of data, as well as the level of digitalization.  Cybersecurity level is a suitable index to measure digital infrastructure. The main intersections here pertain to regulation and politics. Russia is clearly a leader, as it leads in terms of many parameters. Mexico, in its turn, is at the development stage and requires strong information infrastructure. AI implementation requires large amounts of data to create algorithms. Such data can be gathered with the use of social networks, search engines, and special data bases. Russia’s experience in creation of such platforms as Vkontakte and Yan dex constitutes an important example that can be supplemented with data from Mexico that is the most densely populated country in Latin America and 11th most populated country in the world. Quality standards of Russian platforms combined with the amount of data from Mexico may create a significant competitive advan tage. However, implementation of the strategy presented in this essay requires one critical factor that is the most important of all, i. e. political will. Political will and mutual interests Today, more than ever, both countries share common interest in the establish ment of the multipolar world and are trying to take leading positions in it. Mexico — in Latin America, and the Russian Federation — in Eurasia. Such interest results from the weakening of the economic and political impact of Western countries. It is enough to recall the tariff policy implemented by the Donald Trump administra tion regarding Mexico8 that resulted in economic uncertainty and decreased trust in traditional partners. In this context, Mexico is pursuing foreign policy course aimed at diversification of its trade and political liaisons, which will enable its inte gration in a fairer and more balanced world order. Russia, in its turn, could increase its impact in one of the largest economies of Latin America through bilateral and multilateral cooperation, for which signifi cant precedents already exist9. Interest of the Russian Federation is to strengthen BRICS and to improve representation of various regions of the world. Inclusion of Mexico in this block along with Brazil that is already a member thereto would enable significant increase in the group’s influence on the American continent. Throughout the history, diplomatic relations between Mexico and Russia have traditionally remained warm. Regardless of the geographical remoteness, there has always been significant exchange of ideas, art, and scientific achievements between the countries. Development of a strategy for bilateral and multilateral cooperation could become the next step in development of these relations that are based on mutual respect, common interests, and striving for joint development.

Conclusion 

AI plays the key role in the transition to the multipolar and more balanced world order. Mexico and the Russian Federation have significant material, human, and technological potential which makes it possible for them to maintain their influence on the regional and international levels. Strategy for cooperation in the area of AI shall be supported by the factors mentioned in the essay: 

• Regulatory and legal framework and intellectual production, 

• Demographics and labor force, 

• Access to strategic resources and supply chains, 

• Availability of digital infrastructure and data architecture.

Political will and mutual interests. 

In his work “The Multipolar World Theory”, Alexander Dugin states that global equilibrium is impossible without diversity of values and civilizations. Formation of multipolar world order requires coordination of strategies between countries that may seem distant from each other, but are joined by their common interest, i. e. establishment of a more fair, diverse, and balanced international system.