Defining sovereignty and national interest on cyberspace: national and supranational paradigms

Abstract

This dissertation examines, within the operational framework of state sovereignty and national interest, the transformation of cyberspace in the 21st century. Focusing on the rising trend of conflictual interests being promulgated progressively into the cyber sphere, this dissertation parses that cyberspace has well and truly transformed into a battlefield increasingly employed and manipulated by both state and non-state actors. This tactic is unveiled in the way States have been forced to adapt to this new reality by building new capabilities and frameworks. States by focusing on the employment of state sovereignty and national interest principles, this dissertation examines how those aforementioned principles are operationalized in specific national and supranational paradigms.