Cohort: POLS 38°
Topic of the thesis: Geography and cyberspace: why territorial control is indispensable for cyberpower and how it shapes political dynamics in the virtual world

Abstract: The rise of the strategic relevance of the domain of cyber space in the dynamics of international politics is undoubted; however, it is a reality often imagined and analyzed as exclusively virtual, immaterial, and ubiquitous, forgetting its relationship with physical and geographical spatiality. Cybernetic space, on the other hand, develops and crosses the operational domains of land, air, sea, and space, merging with these and making it possible to create an interconnection that is first physical and only then virtual. The aim of the project is to show how some specific places, points or routes are more relevant than others, and how therefore geographical, political, and geopolitical considerations become fundamental and indispensable for understanding both cyberspace, and cyber power, in other words the strategic effect generated by the control and management of cybernetic space. Furthermore, the aim is to investigate the constraints and geopolitical dynamics that contribute and have contributed to the shaping of the structure of cyberspace itself, both at the level of the physical infrastructure and at the logical level, while attempting to show the fragilities and strengths of the current system. Finally, it will be emphasized how today's societies are more dependent on new technologies than ever before, and why controlling the infrastructural level of this space is becoming an unavoidable national security necessity. In this context, the project will focus on the technological competition between China and the United States, with the aim of showing how these actors seek to ensure the domination of this reality as tightly as possible in order to guarantee the security of their respective societies.

Research interests: International Relations; Geopolitics; Strategic Studies; International Security; Decision Making and Cognitive Sciences.

Graduated from: Università degli Studi di Milano

Degrees obtained: BA in International and European Studies MA in International Relations - Diplomacy and International Organizations

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