Cybersecurity Research in International Relations

Summary The proliferation of cyber technologies and the subsequent penetration of state and nonstate actors into cyberspace have introduced a new analytical direction to the subfield of international relations (IR). The earliest theoretical accounts of cyber phenomena were concentrated mainly on the potential implications of technological developments for international security. Theoretical advances made along these lines, however, debated the anticipated and likely consequences of new technologies since cyberspace was in its inchoate stage. Contemporary IR scholarship has been moving beyond the initial debates to situate cybersecurity within the subfield’s core concepts—sovereignty, territory, uncertainty, the security dilemma, competition, cooperation, war, and peace—in light of new developments in cyberspace. Although cyberspace does not have a material presence, it is inherently linked to territorial sovereignty in the context of national and international security dynamics. Employing cyber means, states can transcend the traditional borders of their allies and adversaries for various purposes, from intelligence gathering to targeting critical infrastructure, and reconfigure power relations within the international system. Similarly, violent nonstate actors can mobilize supporters and coordinate transnational acts of violence. In the face of complexities brought by the attribution problem and the use of proxies in cyberspace, understanding the change and continuity in territorial sovereignty and security has thus become central to contemporary debates in IR. The extensive deployment of cyber technologies by state and nonstate actors for strategic purposes indicates a cyber power competition. As such, the difficulty of measuring the cyber power of states through traditional intelligence methods exacerbates uncertainty and intensifies the cybersecurity dilemma. Defensive cyber moves, such as surveillance and cyber espionage, are prone to be framed as offensive; therefore, cybersecurity dilemma encourages states to move on the worst-case scenario. Such developments indicate that the increased ambiguity regarding attribution, intention, and capabilities destabilizes the international system. From this perspective, hybrid warfare, which involves conventional and cyber means of conflict, stands as a prevalent phenomenon, particularly in contemporary interstate conflicts, such as the Russia–Ukraine war. Despite the contentious nature of cyberspace, IR scholars hold a growing recognition that cooperation and peace based on shared norms and responsibilities in cyberspace are possible. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the United Nations, and the European Union have addressed the emerging cybersecurity challenges and developed critical strategies to eliminate the risks in cyberspace since as early as the 1970s. These initiatives reflect a progressing normative framework to embed cyberspace within existing regimes of international order, in which states can develop sustainable, long-term cooperation to mitigate their insecurities.