The Information Revolution, Security, and International Relations: (IR)relevant Theory?

Abstract

The purpose of this article is twofold: to analyze the impact of the information revolution on security and to clarify what existing international relations theory can say about this challenge. These pertinent questions are initially addressed by a critical review of past research. This review shows that the concern for security issues is largely confined to a specialist literature on information warfare and cyber-security, while neither the general literature on information society nor security studies pay any serious attention to information-technology-related security issues. The specialist literature is mostly policy oriented, and only very rarely informed by theory, whether from the international relations discipline or any other field. In this article, three general international relations "schools" (realism, liberalism, and constructivism) are scrutinized with regard to what they can say about security in the digital age. It is argued that the liberal focus on pluralism, interdependence, and globalization, the constructivist emphasis on language, symbols, and images (including "virtuality"), and some elements of realist strategic studies (on information warfare) contribute to an understanding of digital-age security. Finally, it is suggested that pragmatism might help to bridge the gap between theory and practice, and overcome the dualistic, contending nature of international relations theories.Social scientists and experts on technology generally agree that states and societies the world over are becoming, for better or worse, increasingly dependent on information technologies. The development and interconnectedness of information and communications technologies (ICTs) such as the Internet, email, satellite television, and mobile phones are diffusing globally at an impressive speed. The Internet is undoubtedly the most striking example. From only a handful of

Securing cyberspace: How states design governance arrangements

“…First, the nascent nature of this domain that fuses the material and virtual, the spatial, and the temporal dimensions led various scholars to proclaim a cyber revolution (Kello, , ; Manjikian, , p. 383). Its essence related to the complex nature of cyberspace, which presumably weakened state authority, with nonstate actors “becoming even more numerous and powerful” (Eriksson & Giacomello, , p. 232). However, this article demonstrated that how states have addressed the cyber challenge is hardly revolutionary.…”

A multi-level approach to understanding the impact of cyber crime on the financial sector

“…These attacks do not only represent technological threats. If we accept the argument that modern, economically developed societies are increasingly becoming 'information societies', then, it follows that threats to information can be seen as threats to the core of these societies (Eriksson and Giacomello, 2006).…”

El sistema internacional cibernético: elementos de análisis

“…Llama la atención, en especial, la ausencia de bibliografía que se produce en el área de relaciones internacionales. Existen pocos análisis sistemáticos, teóricos o empíricos del problema cibernético desde la disciplina de las relaciones internacionales o desde el subcampo de los estudios de seguridad (Deibert, 2003;Eriksson & Giacomello, 2006;Hansen & Nissenbaum, 2009;Valeriano & Maness, 2015;McEvoy, 2010;Klimburg, 2017;Eriksson & Giacomello, 2007;Rid, 2012;Arquilla & Ronfeldt, 1993). No obstante, destaca la aportación seminal que hicieron John Arquilla y David Ronfeldt (1993) sobre la emergencia de nuevos modos de conflicto, el desarrollo de conceptos como "ciberguerra" o "guerra en red" (netwar) y el impacto de las tecnologías de la información digital sobre el conflicto internacional.…”

“…Por otro lado, el enfoque liberal es una perspectiva muy amplia en cuanto las temáticas que aborda, en la cual se incluyen, entre otros, el idealismo wilsoniano y la teoría neoliberal (Moravcsik, A., 1998;Moravcsik, 1999;Walker, 1993); la teoría de la paz democrática (Russett & Antholis, 1993); la teoría de la interdependencia compleja (Keohane & Nye, 1977), o enfoques sobre la ejecución de políticas domésticas y el papel de instituciones internacionales, la institucionalización y la construcción de regímenes internacionales (Allison & Zelikow, 1999;Risse-Kappen, T., 1995;Snyder, 1991). Los principales supuestos teóricos del liberalismo en la disciplina de relaciones internacionales pueden resumirse en lo siguiente: 1) un énfasis en la pluralidad de actores internacionales; 2) la importancia de factores domésticos en el comportamiento de los Estados en el entorno internacional; 3) el papel de las instituciones internacionales en establecer normas de comportamiento para los actores; y 4) la expansión de la agenda de estudios internacionales (Eriksson & Giacomello, 2006;Sterling-Folker, 2013).…”