Co-Evolution of Cyberspace and International Relations: New Challenges for the Social Sciences

This paper argues that the construction of cyberspace is creating new challenges for the social sciences, the full nature of which still remains to be fully understood -- perhaps even calling into question some of its most basic assumptions. We frame these challenges with reference to co-evolution of the new cyber domain and the traditional international system, and then focus more specifically on the emergent synergy between two independent features of the contemporary world order -- cyberspace (an arena of interaction) and sustainability (a policy imperative), and their convergence on the global policy agenda. It is no surprise that sustainability is closely connected to security -- or alternatively that security is contingent on sustainability. By extension, cybersecurity is derivative, in that it refers to security in the cyber domain.