Undergraduate Course (Bachelor’s Level)
This course introduces undergraduate students to the evolving relationship between cybersecurity and international security. It focuses on cyber threats, state and non-state actors, and institutional responses. Through key case studies, students explore cyberwarfare, espionage, and cybercrime as emerging security issues.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand core concepts and terminology in cybersecurity.
- Identify key actors and threat types in cyber conflict.
- Analyse real-world cyber incidents through geopolitical lenses.
- Assess international responses to cyber insecurity.
Assessment
Class Participation (25%), Case Study Report (25%), Final Essay (50%)
Structure
- What is Cybersecurity? Defining Security in the Digital Age
- State Actors and Strategic Cyber Operations
- Non-State Threats: Hacktivism, Cybercrime, and Terrorism
- Cyberwarfare Case Studies: Estonia (2007), Stuxnet (2010), Ukraine (2015–22)
- National Cyber Strategies: US, China, Russia, EU
- The Politics of Attribution and Deterrence
- Global Governance of Cyberspace: Norms and Challenges
- Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection
- Information Warfare, Influence Campaigns, and Digital Propaganda
- Cybersecurity in the Global South: Capacity and Dependence
- Simulation – Responding to a Multinational Cyber Crisis
Graduate Course (Master’s Level)
This graduate-level course critically explores cybersecurity as a domain of international strategic competition and political contestation. It interrogates state cyber doctrines, multilateral governance, cyber norms, and digital sovereignty. Students examine how cyberspace is shaping global security architecture through espionage, warfare, and technological competition.
Learning Outcomes
- Evaluate theoretical and strategic approaches to cybersecurity.
- Analyse the role of cyberspace in global conflict and power projection.
- Critique legal, institutional, and normative frameworks governing cyber operations.
- Develop strategic insights into the future of cybersecurity governance.
Assessment
Class Participation (25%), Case Study Report (25%), Final Essay (50%)
Structure
- Cybersecurity in International Relations: Theoretical Approaches and Strategic Thinking
- The Evolution of Cyber Power: Tools, Tactics, and Capabilities
- Attribution, Deterrence, and the Challenge of Escalation Control
- State Cyber Doctrines and the Militarisation of Cyberspace
- Strategic Case Studies: China–US Cyber Competition, Russia–Ukraine, Iran–Israel
- Global Norms and Fragmented Governance: UN GGE, OEWG, and Beyond
- Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure: Vulnerabilities and Resilience
- Digital Authoritarianism and Sovereignty in Cyberspace
- Private Actors, Platforms, and the Politics of Cybersecurity
- Emerging Technologies and Future Conflict: AI, Quantum, and Autonomous Systems
- Simulation – Managing a Multilateral Cyber Conflict