Cyberspace in Modern Warfare

Since the dawn of the Internet age, scholars and policymakers have sought to understand the role cyberspace will play in modern warfare. In the contemporary era, researchers continue to wrestle with a number of fundamental questions about how the digital domain is affecting the nature of conflict. These questions include: Is cyberspace fundamentally changing the nature of warfare and international politics? How do modern military organizations organize for and strategize about cyber warfare? How do mature cyber powers actually employ cyber capabilities on the battlefield? Are cyber capabilities best used as a substitute for or complement to conventional military capabilities, or is cyberspace a strategic capability in its own right? Is cyber warfare even a form of warfare at all? In this course, we will explore the implications of cyberspace for warfare in the contemporary era, both in theory and practice. The course is divided into three blocks. First, we will evaluate key conceptual questions and debates about cyberspace in warfighting. Next, we will analyze case studies of how major cyber powers—ranging from the United States and Israel to Russia and China— conceptualize the role of cyberspace in modern warfare and actually employ cyber capabilities on the battlefield. Finally, we will look ahead to the future of cyberspace in warfare, studying how different types of non-state actors, or the intersection of cyberspace with technologies like artificial intelligence and space-based capabilities, may be further changing the contours of modern conflict. The goal of this course is to bridge theory, practice, and policy—to explore how states think about cyberspace in warfare, fighting on the digital battlefield, and what all of this means for the future of strategy and policy.