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Always in control? Sovereign states in cyberspace
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Mainwaring, Sarah (2020) Always in control? Sovereign states in cyberspace. European Journal of International Security, 5 (2). pp. 215-232. doi:10.1017/eis.2020.4 ISSN 2057-5645.
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1017/eis.2020.4
Abstract
For well over twenty years, we have witnessed an intriguing debate about the nature of cyberspace. Used for everything from communication to commerce, it has transformed the way individuals and societies live. But how has it impacted the sovereignty of states? An initial wave of scholars argued that it had dramatically diminished centralised control by states, helped by a tidal wave of globalisation and freedom. These libertarian claims were considerable. More recently, a new wave of writing has argued that states have begun to recover control in cyberspace, focusing on either the police work of authoritarian regimes or the revelations of Edward Snowden. Both claims were wide of the mark. By contrast, this article argues that we have often misunderstood the materiality of cyberspace and its consequences for control. It not only challenges the libertarian narrative of freedom, it suggests that the anarchic imaginary of the Internet as a ‘Wild West’ was deliberately promoted by states in order to distract from the reality. The Internet, like previous forms of electronic connectivity, consists mostly of a physical infrastructure located in specific geographies and jurisdictions. Rather than circumscribing sovereignty, it has offered centralised authority new ways of conducting statecraft. Indeed, the Internet, high-speed computing, and voice recognition were all the result of security research by a single information hegemon and therefore it has always been in control.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HM Sociology J Political Science > JF Political institutions (General) |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Politics and International Studies | ||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Cyberspace , Cyberspace -- Government policy, World Wide Web -- Political aspects, Computer networks -- International cooperation, Cyberspace -- International cooperation, Sovereignty, Cyberspace -- Military aspects, Internet -- Law and legislation | ||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | European Journal of International Security | ||||||||
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press | ||||||||
ISSN: | 2057-5645 | ||||||||
Official Date: | June 2020 | ||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 5 | ||||||||
Number: | 2 | ||||||||
Page Range: | pp. 215-232 | ||||||||
DOI: | 10.1017/eis.2020.4 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | This article has been published in a revised form in European Journal of International Security https://doi.org/10.1017/eis.2020.4. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © British International Studies Association 2020 | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
Copyright Holders: | Copyright © British International Studies Association 2020 | ||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 14 May 2020 | ||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 14 May 2020 | ||||||||
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