Diplomacy in the age of AI: Legal and strategic approaches to techno-nationalism, regulatory soft power and the AI chips race
Jon Truby, Andrew Dahdal, Rafael Brown, Imad Ibrahim. Research in Globalization, vol. 12, pp. 100335, 2026.
Abstract. This article explores how the Artificial Intelligence (AI) race has intensified global competition but also created avenues for international cooperation and developments in international law. The study refines the concept of ‘Tech Diplomacy’ and introduces a novel definition of ‘AI Diplomacy’ as distinguished from ‘AI Statehood’ and ‘AI Sovereignty’. The examination concludes by identifying how ‘AI Diplomacy’ through governance and capacity-building can become a tool for international stability and improved relations rather than a divider of nations and considers future trends in AI governance. AI has emerged as both a strategic industrial and technological asset of global competition and an increasingly relevant negotiating instrument of international trade. AI infrastructure, tools and regulations are now influencing international diplomacy and various aspects of international relations including governance, policy and global security. Adopting a qualitative, comparative approach, the study examines the approach of major actors’ (United States, China and the European Union) and their various strategies of techno-nationalism, infrastructure and standards-driven outreach, regulatory diplomacy, and initiatives in emerging regions such as the Middle East and Africa; all illustrative of how the AI race is shaping diplomacy and international law.
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Regulatory Autonomy and AI Sovereignty: Türkiye at a Crossroad
Rafael Dean Brown, Duygu Ozluk. Asian Journal of Law and Society, pp. 1-27, 2026.
Abstract. This article examines how artificial intelligence (AI) impacts state sovereignty and the balance between innovation and control in AI governance through a case study of Türkiye. As AI technologies become increasingly sophisticated, they challenge traditional notions of sovereignty, creating tensions between fostering innovation and maintaining regulatory control. The concept of “AI sovereignty” encompasses a state’s ability to exercise meaningful control over AI infrastructure, data resources, regulatory frameworks, and technological capabilities. Türkiye’s AI strategy illustrates how “middle powers” navigate this balance, especially as it stands at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, requiring Türkiye to develop distinct approaches that reflect its unique geopolitical position. The analysis reveals that sovereignty in the AI domain encompasses multiple dimensions—technical capabilities, regulatory frameworks, and strategic positioning—requiring adaptable governance approaches. The findings offer insights for jurisdictions seeking to balance innovation imperatives with control mechanisms while maintaining strategic autonomy in an evolving global AI landscape.
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Decentralized Autonomous Organization and AI Legal Personhood
Rafael Dean Brown, Andrew Dahdal, Imad Ibrahim, Jon Truby. Oxford Intersections: AI in Society, 2025.
Abstract. This article argues that since a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) can be granted legal personhood as a DAO LLC, the DAO LLC may be a precursor to granting legal personhood to an artificial intelligence (AI). The article first explores the concept of DAO and the legal personhood status of a DAO when it is registered as a DAO LLC. Under the DAO LLC laws of Wyoming, Tennessee, and Utah, a DAO is statutorily defined as a legal person or attains legal personhood by implication. As AI is increasingly used in DAOs, the article explores the possibility of extending the legal personhood status of a DAO to an AI. Irrespective of the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI), the type of autonomous AI the article envisions is one that fully controls a DAO, called an AI DAO. While an AI DAO has yet to be developed, the article explores technological developments at the convergence of AI and DAO that could lead to an AI DAO. The article discusses three arguments that could extend AI legal personhood from DAOs to an AI: (a) interpreting the statutory definition of a legal person to include an AI DAO, (b) treating the DAO as an indistinguishable legal entity as the AI that fully controls it, and (c) the AI’s exercise of the rights and duties of the DAO as creating legal personhood.
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Enhancing the EU AI Act with CSR: the role of corporate social responsibility in AI regulation
Rafael Dean Brown, Aaron Richard Harmon, Salim Yaacoub. TalTech Journal of European Studies, vol. 15(3), pp. 143-161, 2025.
Abstract. This paper uses the lenses of law and ethics to identify limitations in existing regulatory approaches to artificial intelligence (AI). Regulation is an incomplete solution to the ethical challenges posed by AI. Instead, businesses should take initiative and observe companyand industry-specific self-regulation. In particular, businesses should utilize corporate social responsibility (CSR) principles in anticipatory compliance of future AI regulation. CSR provides a framework capable of addressing inherent AI challenges such as bias, ethics and privacy. This paper discusses the rapid emergence of AI, and lays out the regulatory landscape and the multiple regulatory gaps that include information asymmetry, jurisdiction, cross-border regulation, enforcement, data control, black-box AI, risk classification, accountability and regulatory overreach. After explaining the theoretical underpinnings of CSR, this paper identifies four families of CSR theories and three core CSR concepts found across the four theoretical families: transparency, accountability and sustainability. The paper discusses how CSR principles can enhance the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act . It further proposes that businesses should adopt a proactive, CSR-oriented approach to AI policy and practice.
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A Sandbox Approach to Regulating High-Risk Artificial Intelligence Applications
Jon Truby, Rafael Dean Brown, Imad Antoine Ibrahim, Oriol Caudevilla Parellada. European Journal of Risk Regulation, vol. 13(2), pp. 270-294, 2021.
Abstract. This paper argues for a sandbox approach to regulating artificial intelligence (AI) to complement a strict liability regime. The authors argue that sandbox regulation is an appropriate complement to a strict liability approach, given the need to maintain a balance between a regulatory approach that aims to protect people and society on the one hand and to foster innovation due to the constant and rapid developments in the AI field on the other. The authors analyse the benefits of sandbox regulation when used as a supplement to a strict liability regime, which by itself creates a chilling effect on AI innovation, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. The authors propose a regulatory safe space in the AI sector through sandbox regulation, an idea already embraced by European Union regulators and where AI products and services can be tested within safeguards.
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Property ownership and the legal personhood of artificial intelligence
Rafael Dean Brown. Information & Communications Technology Law, vol. 30(2), pp. 208-234, 2020.
Abstract. This paper adds to the discussion on the legal personhood of artificial intelligence by focusing on one area not covered by previous works on the subject – ownership of property. The author discusses the nexus between property ownership and legal personhood. The paper explains the prevailing misconceptions about the requirements of rights or duties in legal personhood, and discusses the potential for conferring rights or imposing obligations on weak and strong AI. While scholars have discussed AI owning real property and copyright, there has been limited discussion on the nexus of AI property ownership and legal personhood. The paper discusses the right to own property and the obligations of property ownership in nonhumans, and applying it to AI. The paper concludes that the law may grant property ownership and legal personhood to weak AI, but not to strong AI.
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Human digital thought clones: the Holy Grail of artificial intelligence for big data
Jon Truby, Rafael Brown. Information & Communications Technology Law, vol. 30(2), pp. 140-168, 2020.
Abstract. This article explores the legal and ethical implications of big data’s pursuit of human ‘digital thought clones’. It identifies various types of digital clones that have been developed and demonstrates how the pursuit of more accurate personalised consumer data for micro-targeting leads to the evolution of digital thought clones. The article explains the business case for digital thought clones and how this is the commercial Holy Grail for profit-seeking big data and advertisers, who have commoditised predictions of digital behaviour data. Given big data’s industrial-scale data mining and relentless commercialisation of all types of human data, this article identifies some types of protections but argues that more jurisdictions urgently need to enact legislation similar to the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe to protect people against unscrupulous and harmful uses of their data and the unauthorised development and use of digital thought clones.
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Blockchain, climate damage, and death: Policy interventions to reduce the carbon emissions, mortality, and net-zero implications of non-fungible tokens and Bitcoin
Jon Truby, Rafael Dean Brown, Andrew Dahdal, Imad Ibrahim. Energy Research & Social Science, vol. 88, pp. 102499, 2022.
Abstract. The art industry has commercialised and popularised non-fungible tokens (NFTs), with the volume and value of NFT transactions rapidly growing to US$ 10.7 billion in Q3 2021. The increase in NFT transactions has drawn the attention of the art market to the consequent carbon emissions resulting from verifying transactions in proof-of-work blockchains supporting NFT transactions. With CO2-related deaths attributable to NFT transactions, social pressure from the art market has helped to progress the switch away from the deliberately polluting proof-of-work blockchains to more sustainable consensus protocols. Nonetheless, many popular types of blockchain have resisted the pressure to decrease their environmental impact, including Bitcoin, whose attributed 2021 annual emissions will produce emissions responsible for around 19,000 future deaths. In response, recent global policy interventions have employed legal and fiscal tools to reduce the carbon impact of some or all types of blockchains. Linking the damage caused by proof-of-work blockchains to climate change and human mortality, this study examines the recent policy interventions designed to motivate a shift in blockchain consensus protocols and promote miners' energy efficiency to mitigate environmental damage. This article further explores available policy intervention options that are currently not utilised.
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Banking on AI: mandating a proactive approach to AI regulation in the financial sector
Jon Truby, Rafael Brown, Andrew Dahdal. Law and Financial Markets Review, vol. 14(2), pp. 110-120, 2020.
Abstract. Despite an emerging international consensus on principles of AI governance, lawmakers have so far failed to translate those principles into regulations in the financial sector. Perhaps, in order to remain competitive in the global race for AI supremacy without being typecast as stifling innovation, typically cautious financial regulators are unusually allowing the introduction of experimental AI technology into the financial sector, with few controls on the unprecedented risks to consumers and financial stability. Once an unregulated AI software causes serious economic harm, a public and regulatory backlash would lead to over-regulation that could harm innovation of this potentially beneficial technology. Artificial intelligence is rapidly influencing the financial sector with innumerable potential benefits, such as enhancing financial services and improving regulatory compliance. This article argues that the best way to encourage a sustainable future in AI innovation in the financial sector is to support a proactive regulatory approach prior to any financial harm occurring. This proactive approach should implement rational regulations that embody jurisdiction-specific rules in line with carefully construed international principles.
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Mending Lacunas in the EU’s GDPR and Proposed Artificial Intelligence Regulation
Rafael Brown, Jon Truby, Imad Antoine Ibrahim. European Studies, vol. 9(1), pp. 61-90, 2022.
Abstract. The European Union (EU) is leading in the regulation of data privacy and artificial intelligence through the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the proposed European Commission (EC) regulation, and the proposed European Parliament (EP) regulations concerning Artificial Intelligence (AI). The EU also regulates AI through ethical aspects and Intellectual Property Rights as well as the Council of Europe’s conclusions concerning the use of sandboxes regulations and experimentation clauses. This article highlights the EU’s missed opportunities to create synergies between the GDPR and the proposed AI regulations, given that in several instances they deal with issues that must be regulated from an AI perspective, while simultaneously ensuring data protection of EU citizens. In particular, the EU’s ad hoc approach to AI regulation creates lacunas because of its failure to fully integrate the essential components of AI data and algorithm within a regulatory framework.
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Regulatory options for vehicle telematics devices: balancing driver safety, data privacy and data security
Jon Truby, Rafael Dean Brown, Imad Antoine Ibrahim. International Review of Law, Computers & Technology, vol. 38(1), pp. 86-110, 2023.
Abstract. This article seeks to address the issue of the regulation of telematics in vehicles. The objective is to navigate the need to protect data privacy and data security while enhancing road safety through telematics. Vehicles telematics devices utilizing analytical and predictive technology can help identify and reduce the risk of dangerous driving. Such devices are a growing tool in the insurance industry and amongst vehicle manufacturers, allowing safe driving to be rewarded whilst dangerous driving can be penalized. Data generated through telematics can also be of use to traffic authorities and governments to help with traffic management and planning. As such, the EU is planning to mandate the use of such devices. The growing use of telematics has, however, faced major data privacy and data security concerns. The article evaluates regulatory responses from the US and EU, highlighting specific European countries. The purpose is to find an effective balance through comparative analysis between driver safety, data privacy and data security.
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2024
Legal Aspects of Telematics for Law Enforcement
Jon Truby, Khalid Saleh Al-Shamari, Rafael Dean Brown, Imad Antoine Ibrahim. Arab Law Quarterly, vol. 39(4), pp. 511-530, 2024.
Abstract. Telematics is a technology that allows vehicle tracking and monitoring. This paper investigates its legal implications in Qatar, where road fatalities are high, but considers the results with international applicability. It reviews the current laws that govern telematics and evaluates their compatibility with constitutional rights or principles, especially privacy. It also examines how telematics can enhance road safety by providing data and feedback on various driving factors. The paper finds that telematics can offer significant benefits for traffic regulation in Qatar, but also poses some legal challenges that need to be addressed.
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Big Data Analytics and Its Impact on Basin Water Agreements and International Water Law: A Study of the Ramotswa Aquifer
Imad Antoine Ibrahim, Rafael Dean Brown, Jon Truby. Big Data Analytics and Its Impact on Basin Water Agreements and International Water Law, pp. 1-171, 2021.
Abstract. Big data analytics is transforming the water sector at the national and international levels. Its potential impact on transboundary water resource governance is being assessed, for example, in the context of selected basins, including the Ramotswa aquifer shared between South Africa and Botswana. However, international water law and transboundary water agreements have yet to address its emergence. This monograph examines the impact of big data analytics on transboundary water governance from a legal perspective, using the Ramotswa aquifer as a case study. The authors argue that several features of the California Open and Transparent Water Data Act of 2016 and the New Mexico Water Data Act of 2019 can be applied in the context of transboundary water agreements.
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Materials Development in EALP Legal Writing Courses
Rafael Dean Brown, Kashif Raza. Language Teaching Research Quarterly, vol. 15, pp. 33-49, 2020.
Abstract. The present study aimed to evaluate the newly compiled English book for the third grade of senior high school, currently called the 12th grade, and the previous English textbook for pre-university students. To this end, 80 experienced teachers, with the experience of teaching both books, were asked to complete an eclectic checklist comprising 38 items and evaluating the book in terms of nine major criteria, namely General considerations, Vocabulary, Grammar, Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing, Pronunciation, Supplementary materials, tasks and activities. Following that, 10 teachers were also interviewed in order to deepen the quantitative data. The findings indicated that the teachers were more satisfied with the newly introduced book to the educational system. Furthermore, the mean values revealed that the teachers rated the speaking and listening sections as good or satisfactory while they ranked the supplementary materials criterion as the least satisfactory one. As regards the other criteria of the checklist, the findings demonstrated that the teachers were satisfied to some extent. In general, the results confirmed that notwithstanding the dramatic positive changes in Vision 3, it still requires to undergo major revisions in order to meet the EFL students’ needs. Hence, the results would benefit the materials developers in order to locate the areas for improvement.
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Language Acquisition Theory and Context in Materials Development for Second Language Writing Courses
Kashif Raza, Rafael Dean Brown. The Journal of AsiaTEFL, vol. 18(2), pp. 649-656, 2021.
Abstract. Supplementary materials, whether created by English language instructors themselves or borrowed from other resources, play a significant role in teaching writing to English language learners. In both cases, the development and/or selection process involves certain stages that challenge materials developers at different levels and with varying intensities. Research on writing instruction and SLW has extensively discussed strategies and techniques for materials development, but the difficulties that materials developers face during this process have not been given due consideration. This brief report provides an overview of the challenges and issues faced by material developers in second language writing courses and looks at these processes through the lens of language acquisition theory that adapts teaching strategies to meet the socio-cultural needs of the students. First, the article discusses the phases and stages of materials development. Then it describes the challenges and issues faced in writing materials development and how they manifest themselves in every day teaching and learning. Finally, the report suggests how to develop effective and relevant writing materials as well as strategies to modify them according to student and course needs.
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Using Contrastive Rhetoric in Legal Writing Pedagogy
Rafael Dean Brown. Paper on SSRN, 2020. Presented at the Global Legal Skills Conference.
Abstract. The paper focuses on the cross-cultural and cross-linguistic challenges for ESL students using contrastive rhetoric theory, a growing and evolving field of study, which focuses on the relationship of culture, language, logic, and rhetoric. The underlying assumption to contrastive rhetoric theory is that language and writing are cultural phenomena with culturally defined conventions and specific rhetorical expectations. Contrastive rhetoric focuses on making students aware of the different writing conventions, different roles of writers, and different audience expectations across language, culture, and even specific discourse communities, such as the legal discourse community in the U.S. Contrastive rhetoric today has taken on a multidisciplinary approach, encompassing the fields of applied linguistics, linguistic relativity, rhetoric, text linguistics, discourse type, literacy, and translation. It has expanded to many English for Specific Purposes (ESP) discourse communities, such as business and technical writing. Unfortunately, contrastive rhetoric has received little attention in the legal writing community despite concerns and observations by those within the legal writing community about the increasingly globalized legal writing classroom.
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Towards a Qatar Cybersecurity Capability Maturity Model with a Legislative Framework
Rafael Dean Brown. International Review of Law (Qatar University), 2018(4), published 2019.
Abstract. In an age when cybersecurity vulnerabilities can be used as a pretext for a blockade, as in the case of Qatar prompted by a hack of the Qatar News Agency, it becomes incumbent upon states to consider legislating the capability maturity measurement and the development of their cybersecurity programs across the community. This paper proposes a Qatar Cybersecurity Capability Maturity Model (Q-C2M2) with a legislative framework. The paper discusses the origin, purpose and characteristics of a capability maturity model and its adoption in the cybersecurity domain. Driven by a thematic analysis under the document analysis methodology, the paper examines existing globally recognized cybersecurity capability maturity models and Qatar’s cybersecurity framework using publicly available documents. This paper also conducts a comparative analysis of existing cybersecurity capability maturity models in light of the Qatari cybersecurity framework, including a comparative analysis of cybersecurity capability maturity model literature. The comparative document analysis helped identify gaps in the existing Qatar National Information Assurance Policy and specifically the Qatar National Information Assurance Manual. The proposed Q-C2M2 aims to enhance Qatar’s cybersecurity framework by providing a workable Q-C2M2 with a legislative component that can be used to benchmark, measure and develop Qatar’s cybersecurity framework. The Q-C2M2 proposes the USERS domains consisting of Understand, Secure, Expose, Recover and Sustain. Each domain consists of subdomains, under which an organization can create cybersecurity activities at initial benchmarking. The Q-C2M2 uses the following five levels to measure the cybersecurity capability maturity of an organization: Initiating, Implementing, Developing, Adaptive and Agile.
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Challenging the Enforcement of Emergency Arbitrator Decisions
Rafael Dean Brown. Kuwait International Law School Journal 8(3), 39-71, 2020.
Abstract. There is a growing consensus that emergency arbitration is now a permanent and integral part of international arbitration. Commentators and practitioners recognise the significance of the emergency arbitrator mechanism in protecting the parties’ assets and interests. In emergency arbitration, institutional rules give a solo arbitrator, called the emergency arbitrator, the power to grant an urgent or emergency interim measure prior to an arbitral tribunal’s constitution. The enforcement of emergency arbitrator decisions, however, poses a pervasive doubt as to the efficacy of the mechanism.This article discusses the three primary challenges to the enforcement of emergency arbitrator decisions: (A) the nature of emergency arbitrator decisions, (B) the requirement of finality of an arbitral award, and (C) the nature of an emergency arbitrator. These challenges to enforcement have posed and will continue to pose a significant challenge to courts. The limited number of cases, thus far, portend a landscape of conflicting decisions that pave the way for further challenges to the enforcement of emergency arbitrator decisions. The article concludes by recommending measures that will increase the enforceability of emergency arbitrator decisions, highlighting the necessity of amending the New York Convention if emergency arbitration is to become a permanent feature of international arbitration.
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2025
Responsible introduction of disruptive tech in energy transition via regulatory sandboxes: Learning from Fintech and Digital twinning
Imad Antoine Ibrahim, Jon Truby, Rafael Dean Brown, Andrew M. Dahdal, Esmat Zaidan, Thomas Hoppe. SSRN preprint, 2025.
Abstract. As part of the global energy transition, stakeholders dealing with disruptive technologies in the energy sector can benefit from ‘sandbox’ and ‘digital twin’ risk-management strategies which have helped facilitate the introduction and adoption of similarly disruptive innovations across other domains. These innovative approaches help to manage broad risks associated with technological innovations while serving as test beds for both regulations and business models. This article examines how an energy ‘sandbox’ could be used in the case of Small Modular Reactor nuclear energy technology to help balance the interests of stakeholders as societies around the world transition to clean renewable energy sources.
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2026
Open but Inaccessible: AI Access and Inclusivity Challenges in Open Government Data for SDG 16
Rafael Dean Brown, Imad Antoine Ibrahim. Artificial Intelligence, Governance and Sustainable Development (chapter), 2026.
Abstract. Governments worldwide grapple with the concept of making their data fully accessible to the public. This challenge is intensified by the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other disruptive technologies, which simplify the storage and retrieval of such data. However, the accessibility and inclusivity of data are underscored in Sustainable Development Goal 16 of the 2030 Agenda. Against this backdrop, the authors aim to explore methods to achieve this goal by utilizing AI to facilitate Open Government Data. In this context, several challenges have been identified, and recommendations have been proposed to guarantee access to public data through digital platforms.
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2017
A Balanced Flight: Qatar’s New Drone Regulations
Rafael Dean Brown, Shaikha Al Mulla. Qatar Business Law Review 2017 (1), 13-15, 2017.
Abstract. On 9 March 2017, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAS) of Qatar issued regulations covering registration requirements and permissible uses of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), commonly known as drones (hereafter referred to as the Drone Regulations). The Drone Regulations aim to strike a balance among concerns of safety, privacy, and the highly-valued utility of drones.
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2017
Come Fly With Me: Qatari Drone Regulation
Rafael Dean Brown, Shaikha Al Mulla. Lexis Middle East Law Alert, 2017.
Abstract. In March 2017, Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority issued regulations covering the registration requirements and permissible uses of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), commonly known as drones. The new regulations aim to strike a balance between safety and privacy concerns and the commercial value of drones. Unlike drone regulations in other countries which essentially prohibit commercial uses, the Qatari drone regulations show promise for commercial non-passenger transport.
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2017
The Five Levels of Legal Analysis
Rafael Dean Brown. The Second Draft, vol. 30, no. 1 (LWI, Spring 2017).
Abstract. Wilson Huhn’s book, Five Types of Legal Arguments,which categorizes legal arguments into five categories (text, intent, precedent, tradition and policy), largely inspired me to consider whether it was possible to create a taxonomy of the methods, rather than the types, of legal analysis lawyers commonly use in legal writing. I began by examining existing methods for teaching legal analysis. What I found in the literature was that teaching legal analysis has become synonymous with teaching analogizing and distinguishing. Additionally, when teaching legal analysis, legal writing faculty also tell students to apply the rule to the facts.What I wanted to do, however, was to be more explicit in my instruction, to create a building block approach, and to scaffold my teaching of legal analysis. As I ventured to give students a more specific and process driven answer to what I mean by rule application, the Five Levels of Legal Analysis (“Five Levels”) emerged. The Five Levels gives explicit instruction on how to apply the rule to the facts, using a scaffolding strategy that helps students master a set of skills necessary for a thorough and sophisticated legal analysis. The method I teach consists of five skills with increasing levels of difficulty: (1) fact repetition, (2) rhetorical repetition (with epimone and commoratio), (3) analogizing, (4) distinguishing, and (5) policy analysis.
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