Laboratory B

Information Security News: Call for Papers: Cyber Security in International Relations.

Forwarded from: Brent Kesler <bdkesler (at) nps.edu>

Call for Papers: Cyber Security in International Relations
Submissions due: February 1, 2011

Strategic Insights, an online journal published by the Center on 
Contemporary Conflict at the Naval Postgraduate School, is seeking 
scholarly papers on the role that cyber security and information and 
communications technology (ICT) play in international relations and the 
strategic thinking of state and nonstate actors. This issue of SI seeks 
to inform policy makers and military operators of lessons drawn from 
real-world experience with computer and IT issues.

We seek assessment and analysis based on real-world events, not 
speculation regarding potential threats and perceived vulnerabilities. 
Papers that test or develop political theories and concepts are 
encouraged. We hold a broad definition of cyber security, and encourage 
submissions on a range of ICT topics related to threats to national 
security and individual liberties, responses to such threats from states 
and non-state actors, and emerging issues offering an over-the-horizon 
view of cyber security.

However, all submissions should be empirically based; we do not intend 
to publish work purely devoted to editorial opinion, threat 
anticipation, or policy advocacy. Submissions therefore should attempt 
to map capabilities based on available sources or game out real-world 
implications based on empirical data; any "digital Pearl Harbor" 
scenarios should attempt to measure the extent of the damage--tangible, 
social, or political--that could occur.

Sample Topics:

* Use of cyber attacks to influence government behavior (e.g., 2007 
  Estonia attacks)

* Cyber attacks as a force multiplier in conventional conflicts (e.g., 
  2008 Georgia attacks)

* Internet as a critical resource for political and social movements 
  (e.g., the Green Movement in Iran, electioneering in Moldova, Red 
  Shirt Movement in Thailand)

* Governments' efforts to contain popular movements that organize via IT 
  (e.g., shutting down or containing flash mobs, Chinese monitoring of 
  the Dalai Lama, software filtering and surveillance technologies)

* The role of information technology strategies in the US and other 
  states' foreign policy (e.g., US State Department intervention to 
  prevent Twitter shut-down during protests following the 2009 Iranian 
  elections)

* Regional cyber-conflicts (e.g., North and South Korea, India and 
  Pakistan, Israelis and Palestinians)

* Espionage and secrecy in a networked world (e.g., China and Google, 
  Wikileaks)

* Information technologies, civil liberties and privacy (e.g., RIM 
  Blackberry and Chinese, Indian and US efforts at surveillance;  
  Wikileaks; the Safe Harbor dispute)

* Strategic implications of cyber attacks against critical 
  infrastructures

* Innovative cyber attacks (e.g., Stuxnet and the Iranian nuclear 
  program)

* International cooperation to manage cyber-security and IT issues 
  (e.g., Internet governance, WSIS, ICANN, WIPO)

Submission Details: Submissions should be addressed to SI Editor Brent 
Kesler and sent in MS Word compatible format to ccc (at) nps.edu. They 
should range from 10 to 20 pages, double spaced, or 3,000 to 6,000 
words. For more information on submission guidelines, please consult:

http://www.nps.edu/Academics/Centers/CCC/Research-Publications/StrategicInsights/submissions.html

Time to put on the big thinking hat!