Cyber

Abstract

Abstract This chapter argues that improvements in the general availability of information in and through cyberspace are correlated with other factors that make conventional war less likely. States that are getting rich through economic interdependence have less reason to go to war for economic resources. And economic interdependence depends increasingly on information technology. But the price of the modern informational peace is an increasing attractiveness of intelligence contests in and through cyberspace. The same developments that discourage conventional war, therefore, will also encourage information “conflict” or intelligence contests. Common information systems improve economic prosperity, and actors moderate the intensity of cybercrime and cyber espionage to preserve the benefits of digital globalization, which include opportunities for future exploitation. The chapter presents empirical evidence that supports the hypothesis that cyber conflict is an indirect substitute for conventional war.