Cyberspace has become the ultimate frontier and central issue of international conflict, geopolitical competition, and security. Emerging threats and technologies continuously challenge the prospect of an open, secure, and free cyberspace. Additionally, the rising influence of technology on society and culture increasingly pushes international diplomacy to establish responsible state behavior in cyberspace and internet governance against the backdrop of fragmentation and polarization. In this context, novel normative practices and actors are emerging both inside and outside the conventional sites of international diplomacy and global governance. In Hybridity, Conflict, and the Global Politics of Cybersecurity, Fabio Cristiano and Bibi van den Berg explore the hybridity and conflict inherent to these recent processes of remodulation of the global politics of cybersecurity by analyzing emerging normative practices, threats and technologies, and actors. Through this comprehensive analysis, this edited volume ultimately sheds light on the problematic technical logic of emergence that informs the global politics of cybersecurity and delineates novel normative paths for cyberspace moving forward.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com. Providing a much-needed study on cybersecurity regime building, this comprehensive book is a detailed analysis of cybersecurity norm-making processes and country positions, through the lens of multi-stakeholder diplomacy. Multidisciplinary and multinational scholars and practitioners use insights drawn from high-level discussion groups to provide a rigorous analysis of how major cyber powers view multi-stakeholder diplomacy.

Cybersecurity is a complex and contested issue in international politics. By focusing on the 'great powers'--the US, the EU, Russia and China--studies in the field often fail to capture the specific politics of cybersecurity in the Middle East, especially in Egypt and the GCC states. For these countries, cybersecurity policies and practices are entangled with those of long-standing allies in the US and Europe, and are built on reciprocal flows of data, capital, technology and expertise. At the same time, these states have authoritarian systems of governance more reminiscent of Russia or China, including approaches to digital technologies centred on sovereignty and surveillance. This book is a pioneering examination of the politics of cybersecurity in the Middle East. Drawing on new interviews and original fieldwork, James Shires shows how the label of cybersecurity is repurposed by states, companies and other organisations to encompass a variety of concepts, including state conflict, targeted spyware, domestic information controls, and foreign interference through leaks and disinformation. These shifting meanings shape key technological systems as well as the social relations underpinning digital development. But however the term is interpreted, it is clear that cybersecurity is an integral aspect of the region's contemporary politics.

China’s emergence as a technology leader has become a major factor in geopolitics, transforming global political and economic relationships. In its bid to achieve digital great power status, China’s government has reformed laws and policies, drastically increased investment, and become more assertive internationally. Chinese companies have expanded at home and abroad, but relationships between government and the private sector have sometimes been fractious. The Emergence of China’s Smart State assesses the extent to which the Chinese government has been able to achieve its ambitious digital goals, and more broadly, how this reflects rapidly changing domestic and international political and economic dynamics surrounding China’s rise as a major technology player. This is the first book of its kind, interrogating the complex, dynamic interactions between political, market, and technological factors that structure China’s digital development. It will provide information and intellectual frameworks for scholars, policymakers, and professionals to appreciate the complexity of China’s digital policy landscape, the process of learning and iteration the Party continues to experience as external events impact the policy process, and the impact China’s innovation policies, regulations, and achievements have had, or may have, in the future.

In the post-industrial age, information is more valuable than territory and has become the main commodity influencing geopolitics today. The reliance of societies on cyberspace and information and communication technologies (ICTs) for economic prosperity and national security represents a new domain of human activity and conflict. Their potential as tools of social disruption and the low cost of entry of asymmetric conflict have forced a paradigm shift. The Cyber Threat and Globalization is designed for students of security studies and international relations, as well as security professionals who want a better grasp of the nature and existential threat of today’s information wars. It explains policies and concepts, as well as describes the threats posed to the U.S. by disgruntled employees, hacktivists, criminals, terrorists, and hostile governments. Features Special textboxes provide vignettes and case studies to illustrate key concepts. Opinion pieces, essays, and extended quotes from noted subject matter experts underscore the main ideas. Written to be accessible to students and the general public, concepts are clear, engaging, and highly practical.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Hybrid Warfare refers to a military strategy that blends conventional warfare, so-called 'irregular warfare' and cyber-attacks with other influencing methods, such as fake news, diplomacy and foreign political intervention. As Hybrid Warfare becomes increasingly commonplace, there is an imminent need for research bringing attention to how these challenges can be addressed in order to develop a comprehensive approach towards Hybrid Threats and Hybrid Warfare. This volume supports the development of such an approach by bringing together practitioners and scholarly perspectives on the topic and by covering the threats themselves, as well as the tools and means to counter them, together with a number of real-world case studies. The book covers numerous aspects of current Hybrid Warfare discourses including a discussion of the perspectives of key western actors such as NATO, the US and the EU; an analysis of Russia and China's Hybrid Warfare capabilities; and the growing threat of cyberwarfare. A range of global case studies - featuring specific examples from the Baltics, Taiwan, Ukraine, Iran and Catalonia - are drawn upon to demonstrate the employment of Hybrid Warfare tactics and how they have been countered in practice. Finally, the editors propose a new method through which to understand the dynamics of Hybrid Threats, Warfare and their countermeasures, termed the 'Hybridity Blizzard Model'. With a focus on practitioner insight and practicable International Relations theory, this volume is an essential guide to identifying, analysing and countering Hybrid Threats and Warfare.