The Sea and Cyberspace

Abstract This chapter integrates insights from the historical chapters into the conceptualization for the different actors. It compares the sea between the late 16th and mid-19th centuries and cyberspace and finds many shared characteristics of insecurity. Whilst the differences do not alter the fundamental structure of insecurity, they change the assessment of the expected speed of interaction, the range of policy solutions, as well as the stability of insecurity reproduced across time. It argues for the late 16th and late 17th centuries as the closest approximations to current trends. The chapter discusses the spectrum of state proximity, clarifying the differing types of relationships of the actors with the state and amongst one another and reports on the results of the interactive macro-historical focuses outlined in Chapter 2: narratives of piracy, the evolution of interests in privateering, longevity and path dependency, the evolution of mercantile companies, and the abolition of privateering.