EXPLAINING STATE BEHAVIOUR DURING CYBER DISPUTES

This dissertation has the objective of answering two main research questions that tackle directly when and how states employ cyber weapons and engage in cyber disputes, namely: \u201cIs there a particular context within which cyber disputes take place?\u201d and \u201cWhat are the elements that influence the mechanisms of retaliation, and possible escalation, during cyber disputes?\u201d. The when aims at researching the main condition that causes states to employ cyber weapons against each other. It starts from the hypothesis that cyber disputes are more likely to begin and end within contexts of political, military, diplomatic tension between states as an alternative mean to signal power and force posture without recurring to physical measures, intended as political accusations, economic sanctions and military interventions. The how concerns the characteristics of the behaviour or states in cyber space, and how self-restraining mechanisms and symmetry - or the lack thereof - between dyads of states involved in cyber disputes influences how states engage against each other. This research presents two main original findings. The first finding is that, indeed, a condition of political tension or hostility, stemming from conflictual strategies and postures, between states - namely, the independent variable - is a condition common to all the analysed cases, namely dyads of states exchanging hostile CNOs, which represents the dependent variable. Counterfactually, there are no recorded cases in literature of allied countries engaging in cyber disputes. The second finding is that there is a causal mechanism between the states that confront each other in cyber space and the cyber weapon employed in such disputes. Retaliation between dyads of states constitutes the dependent variable of this research, and indeed it was shown clearly by this research how it is influenced by the two independent variables taken into consideration. In situations of asymmetry the most powerful state, both as an attacker as a responder to a previous attack, will show enough power to acquire a position of escalation dominance. Against this position the counterpart will be very likely to retaliate but in a less powerful way, de-escalating the intensity of the conflict, or surrender to the attack and avoid retaliating. In a situation of symmetry, the dynamics of attack are expected to follow a tit-for-tat movement, without increasing the intensity of the conflict. This, supposedly, to avoid an escalation into the physical realm that would easily create an impasse or a prolonged crisis, given the equality in power. Due to the fact that states employ cyber weapons in an internationally unregulated environment, and the sophistication as well the number of states employing these new weapons is increasing, this dissertation will also provide policy suggestion to propose a modification of International Law in order to better address the issue under a normative point of view, for the sake of international security and stability

Play Among Books

How does coding change the way we think about architecture? Miro Roman and his AI Alice_ch3n81 develop a playful scenario in which they propose coding as the new literacy of information. They convey knowledge in the form of a project model that links the fields of architecture and information through two interwoven narrative strands in an “infinite flow” of real books

Play Among Books

How does coding change the way we think about architecture? Miro Roman and his AI Alice_ch3n81 develop a playful scenario in which they propose coding as the new literacy of information. They convey knowledge in the form of a project model that links the fields of architecture and information through two interwoven narrative strands in an “infinite flow” of real books

The bombing of British cities and the contesting of remembrance: WWII civilian experience and its commemoration since 1945

The notion of resilience, sustained throughout the bombing campaigns of WWII, notably the bravery and fortitude, exhibited as Britain held firm after 1940, has contributed to national self-esteem, in a much-changed post-war world. Its recall continues, in tough times, such as the 7/7 London bombings and the Covid-19 pandemic. Widely deployed, as ‘Blitz spirit’, the privileging of admirable personal qualities has a cost, this thesis contends, to a more considered knowledge and understanding of the civilian bombing experience. The aim of the research is to challenge the prevailing Blitz narrative, with its limited representation of the civilian experience, through engagements with and analysis of the processes and practices of civilian commemoration and the people behind them. This aim can be fulfilled by a research plan that conducts an archaeology of the Blitz myth, tracking the historiography of the Blitz narrative, from its foundations in 1940, determining the commemorative materialisation of civilian remembrance and the activism that gives rise to it. The commemorative material represents the voices of personal wartime memories being heard and seen through voluntary civilian activism, bringing forward private memory to public view. WWII civilian commemoration is limited in quantity and hard to see given the military emphasis of wartime memorialisation. Indeed, the thesis exposes the struggle to establish memorial meaning and engagement at a national and metropolitan level. Moreover, the contesting of civilian remembrance has produced a diversity in material form, more recently in response to important anniversaries, in marked contrast to the standardised commemorations at cemeteries in the immediate aftermath of war. A broad constituency of activist voices has been heard and the range of their commemorative output speaks to the power of story-telling, personal truths made public, transcending narrow national narratives, through individuals, groups and communities pursuing specific remembrance agendas

Changing Paradigms : Designing for a Sustainable Future

Changing Paradigms: designing for a sustainable future is intended for designers, design students and design educators, who want to understand why and how to integrate Sustainability into design education and practice. It consists of five parts; Part One presents why we must design for a sustainable future, Part Two describes how to design for a sustainable future, Part Three presents student design projects exemplifying sustainable design, Part Four is a glossary of 120 terms and concepts about Sustainability and design, and finally, Part Five includes three appendices: The Cumulus Kyoto Design Declaration, and guidelines on how to green both school campuses and conferences. This book has been edited by Peter Stebbing and Ursula Tischner, who have invited internationally renown experts to contribute chapters. Changing Paradigms offers a comprehensive survey of essential knowledge for designers and other creative professions to shift their focus to the new design paradigm for sustainable production, consumption, and life styles

Devouring One´s Own Tail

Like the ancient ouroboros devouring its own tail, we are products of our own education, our own rules and methods of cognizing and shaping the world. As such, we are also their victims, living mostly by habit and inherited rules of conduct questioning them only in the moments of crises and sometimes even not then. The purpose of this book is to explore the nature of autopoiesis or the ability of society and its various forms to create, re-create and maintain itself, by putting it in the broader interdisciplinary perspective as having been established within the project itself. The mark of the book is its broad interdisciplinary quality, stretching from philosophy, religious studies and literary theory to new media, linguistics, and political theory.Publishe

Investigating and Writing Achitectural History: Subjects, Methodologies and Frontiers.

The volume contains the abstracts and full texts of the 157 papers and position statements presented and discussed at the III EAHN (European Architectural History) International Meeting, Torino 19-21 June 201