The Rise of Cyber Ambassadorships in Democracies
Abstract:
Since the invention of the Internet, states have principally focused on building their cyber capabilities in the realm of the military. Only recently have they started to add high-profile diplomacy to their cyber toolbox, through the creation of special ambassadorships to cyberspace. What explains this development? We argue that democracies are becoming increasingly attentive to the subversive effect of cyber-threats on shaping public opinion and eroding trust in democratic institutions. Empirically, we expect this shifting threat perception to be reflected in an increased investment in cyber diplomacy to advance the creation of shared norms and regulations. Our paper presents new global data on all cyber ambassadorships in democracies and shows that a higher number of cyber-threats against a democratic state is significantly associated with an increased probability of this state creating a cyber ambassador position. This relationship is conditional on a country's wealth. The findings demonstrate how shifting threat perceptions impact states' foreign policy decisions as they pertain to cyberspace, thereby contributing to our understanding of the role of emerging technologies in international relations.
About the Speaker:
Nadiya Kostyuk is Assistant Professor at the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology (CMIST) at Carnegie Mellon University. Until 2024, she was an Assistant Professor at the School of Public Policy and the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy (courtesy) at Georgia Institute of Technology.
Her research interests lie at the intersection of international security and technology, paying particular attention to the role of cyber power in domestic and international politics. Her methodological areas of interest include spatial statistics, mathematical/computational modeling, text analysis, and network analysis.
Her research has been published (or is forthcoming) in the International Studies Quarterly, Contemporary Security Policy, Policy & Internet, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Public Opinion Quarterly, Journal of Global Security Studies, Journal of Strategic Security, Texas National Security Review, Harvard National Security Journal, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Cyber Defense Review, and several edited volumes and general-audience publications.
She is a co-founder and a co-organizer of the Digital Issues Discussion Group. She is also a founder and a co-organizer of the Cybersecurity Summer Institute.
She received degrees from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (PhD), New York University (MSc), City University of New York John Jay College (B.A.) and Kyiv National Linguistic University (B.A.).
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