Admission requirements
Only students of the MSc Crisis and Security Management can take this course.
Students will participate on a ‘first come served’ bases, with a maximum number of participants of 35. At least 8 students must enroll for the course to take place.
Description
‘Contested spaces’, where a state is unable or unwilling to exert its authority, have frequently been defined as threats to international security in the past twenty years. These were often geographical areas synonymous with ‘failed states’, where non-state actors such as terrorist or criminal organisations would seek sanctuary. According to public perception cyber space has now become one of these ‘ungoverned spaces’, out of reach for governments and businesses alike. Cyber-crime and cyber terrorism have proliferated as a result, and according to some, the threat of cyber war looms ahead. This cyber-governance module will look at where responsibility for cyber security in the public-private-individual triangle is placed and how government institutions have shared, distributed or obtained cyber missions and duties. Strategies and doctrines will also be covered, and how they combine with traditional state responsibilities such as defence and intelligence (espionage).
In practice, however, internet is not so much ungoverned as subjugated to alternative forms of governance, often by non-state actors. Although relatively little has yet been written in academia on cyber governance, this module will explore the customary theories from public administration and legal perspective.
Cyberspace also has important repercussions for conflict studies. Traditional concepts such as sovereignty, power, war, espionage and terrorism could face fundamental changes as global internet connectivity and dependence continues to grow. This module will look at competing views on cyber threats (from a ‘digital pearl harbour’ to cyber-operations in support of conventional military attacks), working through definitions, concepts and policies to sketch some of the possible implications for future inter and intra-state relations. Students are required to read primary materials, conduct research on security issues and adopt the concepts and theoretical perspectives provided in the course to their work.
Course objectives
(1) Students obtain advanced knowledge about the history of the internet (how and why did it develop as it did) and key events in cyber conflicts, such as the ‘cyber riot’ in Estonia 2007, the defacement of Georgian websites in 2008 and the famous Stuxnet virus in order to recapitulate the implications of cyber-space and the internet for traditional notions such as sovereignty, power, war and conflict, espionage, terrorism and crime.
(2) Students will be able to differentiate between the different governance models related to cyber, such as the multi-stakeholder model and public-private partnerships with a special emphasis on ensuring cyber security in critical infrastructures and are capable of assessing the consequences of the different governance models in terms of (conflicting) interests, responsibilities, transparency and accountability.
(3) Students are able to recapitulate clear conceptual definitions (concerning cyberspace, cyber-security, cyber-attack and cyber-war) in order to grasp the outlines of complex cyber-issues and conduct in a nuanced debate (in writing or orally) based on sound empirical findings on complex cyber-issues that are often misrepresented in popular media and policy environments, for instance the alarmist reporting on cyber war or cyber terrorism, and implications of current trends such as the Internet of Things.
(4) Student are able to apply their knowledge of cyber-governance and cyber-conflicts by deduction to practical, policy orientated questions, case studies and to critically evaluate by induction empirical observations of trends, new concepts and theories and are able to explain this both in an academic research paper, for a professional audience, through an opinion-piece and during class presentations.
(5) Students will develop their writing skills and the state of the art of writing research papers by learning how to synthesize complex academic papers, reducing complex issues to their essentials and explaining the implications cyber can have for broader society and international relations.
(6) Students have gained advanced knowledge of how to find primary source material for further research and investigation (academic journals, but also give pointer to books, blogs and authors to watch). Given the specific topic, the students will learn who the main opinion formers are, and which works of literature are good entry points for a better acquaintance of the subject.
Timetable
On the right side of CSM front page of the E-guide you will find links to the website and timetables, uSis and Blackboard.
Mode of instruction
Seven seminars.
Students are required to prepare questions on the basis of the literature; and students will twice give short presentations in class on certain topics.
Participation in lectures, discussions and exercises is required in order to obtain a grade. One lecture may be missed. Being absent more than once may likely lead to expulsion from the course.
Course Load
Total study load 140 hours:
contact hours: 21
self-study hours: reading, preparing lectures, assignments, etc 119
Assessment method
1. Short paper (25%)
In or around week 4, students will have to hand in a short paper in the form of an op-ed. The paper consists of max. 800 words.
2. Research paper (75%)
One week after the last lecture, students are required to hand in a referenced paper to complete the course. The paper should consist of around max. 4.000 words (excluding front page, footnotes, and literature list) and should be driven by a central research question that grounds the research. The paper should pose a research question, supported by arguments, which is answered through the analysis of primary and secondary source evaluation.
The resit of the research paper takes the same form.
Compensation rule: Only assessments with the weight of 30% and lower are compensable. This means that one does not have to pass an assessment if it weighs less than 30% in order to pass the course, if the average of all assessments combined is at least a 5.5. In addition, assignments with less than 30% are not re-sitable, meaning that if one failed an assessment of less than 30%, one is not allowed to redo it.
Blackboard
The corresponding Blackboard course will become available one week prior to the first lecture.
Reading list
To be announced on blackboard.
Registration
Use both uSis and Blackboard to register for every course.
Register for every course and workgroup via uSis. Some courses and workgroups have a limited number of participants, so register on time (before the course starts). In uSis you can access your personal schedule and view your results. Registration in uSis is possible from four weeks before the start of the course.
Also register for every course in Blackboard. Important information about the course is posted there.