| Summary: |
Cyberspace is a fact of daily life. Because of its ubiquitous nature and
vast scale and scope, cyberspace — including the Internet and the hundreds
of millions of computers the Internet connects, the institutions that
enable it, and the experiences it enables — has become a fundamental
feature of the world we live in and has created a new reality for almost
everyone in the developed world and for rapidly growing numbers of
people in the developing world. 1
Until recently, cyberspace was considered largely a matter of low
politics — a term used to denote background conditions and routine decisions
and processes. By contrast, the matters of interest in high politics
have to do with national security, core institutions, and decision systems
critical to the state, its interests, and its underlying values. 2 Nationalism,
political participation, political contentions, conflict, violence, and war
are among the common concerns of high politics. 3 But low politics do
not always remain below the surface. If the cumulative effects of normal
activities shift the established dynamics of interaction, then the seemingly
routine can move to the forefront of political attention. When this happens,
it can propel the submerged features into the political limelight.
In recent years, issues connected to cyberspace and its uses have
vaulted into the highest realm of high politics. We now appreciate that
cyberspace capabilities are also a source of vulnerability, posing a potential
threat to national security and a disturbance of the familiar international
order. 4 The global, often nontransparent interconnections afforded
by cyberspace have challenged the traditional understanding of leverage
and influence, international relations and power politics, national security,
borders, and boundaries — as well as a host of other concepts and
their corresponding realities.
Many features of cyberspace are reshaping contemporary international
relations theory, policy, and practice. Those related to time, space,permeation, fluidity, participation, attribution, accountability, and ubiquity
are the most serious ( table 1.1) . Individually, each feature is at
variance with our common understanding of social reality and with
contemporary understandings of international relations. Jointly, they
signal a powerful disconnect.
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