A Research Agenda for Digital Politic: Sending a message: the primacy of action as communication in cyber-security

TY - CHAP

T1 - A Research Agenda for Digital Politic

T2 - Sending a message: the primacy of action as communication in cyber-security

AU - Drew, Alexi

AU - O'Loughlin, Ben

PY - 2020/5/18

Y1 - 2020/5/18

N2 - Action is the primary form of communication in the domain of cyber-security. Consider Russia attacking Georgia, Estonia, Ukraine; Stuxnet; US_China operations; even Islamic State until its recent defeats. All show actors acting first, legitimizing through communication later. Despite much focus on actors using strategic narratives to articulate their vision of the past, present and future of international security, our analysis of a range of cases indicates that narratives are post-hoc and reactive to decisive actions. The authors propose that research should address the aesthetics of these actions; the effectiveness of the persuasion or securitization of those seeking to frame the Internet as a space of war on elite and public opinion; and the need for a mapping of the global architecture of cyber-security. Since communication is at the heart of these questions, scholars of digital politics are uniquely advantaged to build compelling explanations of interactions in the cyber-security domain.

AB - Action is the primary form of communication in the domain of cyber-security. Consider Russia attacking Georgia, Estonia, Ukraine; Stuxnet; US_China operations; even Islamic State until its recent defeats. All show actors acting first, legitimizing through communication later. Despite much focus on actors using strategic narratives to articulate their vision of the past, present and future of international security, our analysis of a range of cases indicates that narratives are post-hoc and reactive to decisive actions. The authors propose that research should address the aesthetics of these actions; the effectiveness of the persuasion or securitization of those seeking to frame the Internet as a space of war on elite and public opinion; and the need for a mapping of the global architecture of cyber-security. Since communication is at the heart of these questions, scholars of digital politics are uniquely advantaged to build compelling explanations of interactions in the cyber-security domain.

KW - Digital communication

KW - New Political Communications

KW - Cybersecurity

KW - Cyber

KW - Diplomacy

KW - Norms

KW - International relations

U2 - 10.4337/9781789903096

DO - 10.4337/9781789903096

M3 - Chapter

SN - 9781789903089

SP - 146

EP - 158

BT - Edward Elgar Publishing

A2 - Dutton, William H.

ER -