Beyond domains, beyond commons: Context and theory of conflict in cyberspace

This paper examines implications of the collective cognitive blind spot of national security leaders with regard to conflict and warfare in and through cyberspace. It argues that the view of cyberspace as a contested domain within a global commons is not sufficient to address the full range of conflict therein. It posits that deliberate examination of the ontology and evolution of cyberspace is essential to properly inform the management of resources, forces, and risk. It discusses analytical frameworks to explore the fundamental structures of cyberspace and endeavors to provide the theoretical underpinning necessary to inform the broader dialogue addressing concepts such as complexity and emergence, self-organization and self-governance, human-machine integration, influences of ethics and philosophy, and the blurring of distinction between the cognitive, content, and connectivity dimensions. It strongly encourages leaders in cyberspace security planning to adopt a bifurcated approach that not only addresses the immediate challenges in cyberspace, but also includes a parallel and distinct effort to examine and characterize future manifestations of cyberspace.