Countries such as the US, China, and Russia that once were separated by great distances are now connected by cyber at the speed of light. This change requires us to rethink what we know about security, international relations, and war. To complicate matters, the Internet has instantiated differently in different States due to bureaucratic, political, cultural, and economic factors and has shaped each State in different ways. Understanding these cyber-differences is critical for understanding the role of networks in Security for each State and the role of "attribution", "retaliation", and "deterrence" in State-relations.
This course provides students with qualitative data and models for understanding and being able to articulate the relevance of cyber to their studies, career, and world.
The course is divided into four sections:
- An introduction to the course: "US leadership in Cyberwar"
- Cyber competition between US and Russia
- US-China cyber-relations
- Cyber-deterrence
Though we are focusing on cyber and the Superpowers (US, China, and Russia), the lessons drawn can be applied to all states and to some degree to non-state actors such as terrorist groups.