This is a phrase commonly used in the field of internet governance to define the will of states to exercise and sustain control over the Internet domain within their own borders, including political, economic, cultural and technological activities. However, it is not clear how to apply this sovereignty concept to current international relations and international laws.
Published in Chapter:
Grey Zone Conflicts in Cyber Domain: Nonlocality of Political Reality in the World of “Hyperobjects”
Muhammed Can (University of Minho, Portugal)
Copyright: © 2020
|Pages: 16
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-9715-5.ch018
Abstract
In recent years, controversial concepts like post-truth, truth decay, political technology, and blurred nature of reality have become more complex around the world. Perhaps, a most important manifestation of these concepts could be discerned in grey zone conflicts. Confrontations in the grey zone are regarded neither peace nor war by the major powers. Russia, China, and Iran constantly use grey zone tools, notably disinformation campaigns, influence operations in social media through troll farms, information warfare, and cyber-attacks to sustain the balance of power/threat with Western countries. What makes these conflicts very significant is that they are cheaper and less risky for aggressor states given the disastrous consequences of the total wars. Furthermore, these malicious activities have unique impacts on political realities thanks to the common usage of social media and cyberspace. Thereby, this article argues the cyber frontier of grey zone conflicts and its possible effects to reality through the concept/analogy of hyperobjectivity and nonlocality.