Cyber Conflict: Competing National Perspectives

Chapter 2Cuba: Towards an Active Cyber-defense ¹

 

 

 

Democratic states do not wage war on one another. Certain of the universal scope of this theory, democracies put pressure on authoritarian regimes to change their very nature. To steer states down the path of change, there are a number of tools that are required.

One rests on the theory of economic democratization, which incites developed, democratic states to provide financial aid to underdeveloped states, and involve them in the dynamics of the global economy. The economy would have democratic value.

Another is based on the theory of the democratizing power of information and information technologies. They have the capacity to bring individuals together, enable them to think collectively, bring an end to isolation, and expose connected communities to the influence of ideas and information from the rest of the world. These information technologies would therefore be a powerful tool or weapon, in the service of global democratization, enabling us to overthrow authoritarian political regimes. This technological determinism is reminiscent of the convictions of military men and their revolutionary strategies: it assigns technology a central role, conferring the power to change the world on its user, enabling them to achieve goals by means other than confrontation and armed conflict.

Since the early 1990s, it has been widely accepted that information technologies represent a genuine challenge for authoritarian regimes [KO 09], ...