Click. Hack. Rule: Understanding the Power & Peril of Cyber Conflict

Catalog description

This course examines the politics, strategy, and consequences of cyber conflict in contemporary international relations. Students explore how digital technologies have transformed espionage, coercion, intelligence competition, and information warfare, while also raising new challenges for attribution, deterrence, and escalation. Through theoretical debates, empirical research, and real-world case studies, the course analyzes how states, non-state actors, and digital platforms shape conflict in cyberspace. Topics include the technical foundations of the internet, the evolution of cyber conflict, cyber espionage and sabotage, information operations and election interference, digital repression, cyber proxies and mercenaries, and online radicalization. By the end of the course, students will be able to critically assess competing theories of cyber power and evaluate policy strategies for managing conflict and security in the digital age.