Podcast: Cyber Conflict with Brandon Valeriano and Tim Stevens

Description Cyber operations are becoming increasingly important in contemporary statecraft, as they provide new means through which states may threaten or act against one another. The cases of Estonia, Saudi Aradia, Iran, and the 2016 US Presidential elections demonstrate that cyber operations can be used to compromise critical infrastructure, damage economies, undermine democracy, and can even amount to formal state conflict. However, according to Dr. Brandon Valeriano, "cyberconflict", defined as the use of computational means for malicious or destructive purposes in order to influence diplomatic or military interactions, has not necessarily opened a door to new conflicts in the international system. His research also provides that cyberconflict is neither as frequent or damaging as other forms of conflict. How does cyberconflict fit into the continuation of international rivalries and conflicts today? In this edition of the War Studies Podcast, we are going to dive into the domain of Cyberconflict with Dr. Brandon Valeriano, the Donald Ben Chair of Armed Politics at the Marine Corps University, and Dr. Tim Stevens, Lecturer in Global Security in the Dept. of War Studies and Convenor of the Cyber Security Research Group. If you are interested in learning more about this topic, check out our recording of Dr. Brandon Valeriano's lecture, "Cyber Strategy: The Evolution of Cyber Power and Coercion."