How cyberspace affects international relations: The promise of structural modifiers

Abstract

This article proposes a new way to understand cyberspace's impact on international relations by treating it as a “structural modifier.” This shared language with IR allows for a clearer picture of cyberspace's causal role and effects. Unlike previous views of cyberspace as a mere domain or a revolutionary tool, this approach sees it as influencing all states’ behavior within the existing international structure. Cyberspace alters the nature and number of interactions between states, but only within the confines and constraints of the existing structure. The article demonstrates the analytical value of this approach across four key areas: deterrence, foreign policy tool choice, uncertainty, and state/non-state actor interactions. Thinking of cyberspace as a structural modifier heeds policy-makers to remain skeptical of pressures to focus on cyberspace in isolation or at the expense of other statecraft domains and tools, or to make decisions based on the idea that cyberspace revolutionizes international relations.