B0141 - CYBERSECURITY AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Learning outcomes

The course will allow students to enhance their knowledge on the current dynamics of the intersection between cyberspace and international business. In particular, students will be able to: 1) Understand the fundamentals of cyberspace, cyber security and their dynamics in the field of international business; 2) Apply a multidisciplinary approach combining social science with computer science topics; 3) Achieve a specific confidence with the ability to use methods to conduct researches and analysis in the field of Cybersecurity and International Business; 4) Understand the main cyber related threats and risks against the business continuity 5) Analyze the implications for State, non-state and private actors in the cyber arena; 6) Study how cyberspace could jeopardize the international security and stability; 7) Apply the concept of public-private partnership in the field of cyber security and international business.

Course contents

Understanding the dynamics produced by the cyber domain in the international business is essential for students in today's interdependent and interconnected global world. Considering the impacts on different levels of cybersecurity in geopolitical, business and economic contexts, the course addresses national and international policy responses as well as formal and informal strategies of public and private stakeholders. The course therefore aims to provide students with the knowledge, skills and abilities to understand cyberspace from a political, economic, strategic and social point of view within which both state and private actors operate. The course will examine the strategies and structures of international politics and will evaluate the roles covered by private actors that in some cases play a political role (for example in the context of research and technology development), as well as the role of states as “guardians” of technology champions. At the end of the course the students will reach the awareness to understand what are the interests involved in the context of cyber security, considered not only as a threat or a risk but also as an opportunity for international business. In this way students will be aware of why and how current International relations theories are valid in cyberspace and will be able to understand which strategies are implemented internationally by state actors to setup governance system which allow influence cyber domain in their favor, and which plans are developed by private actors in order to pursue their business oriented interests.

Classroom exercises, homework and case studies will be the basis of the interactive teaching approach of the course.

At the end of the course students should be able to:

1. Understand the most widely used international politics, international political economy, and cyber security terms and concepts.

2. Identify the role and impact of cyberspace variables from a political, economic, strategic and social point of view in international dynamics.

3. Analyze international business from a multidisciplinary perspective. 

 

An integrated teaching model will be adopted combining lectures with group discussions, with external guests directly involved in cyberspace business and international politics involved, with individual assignments, home exercises, empirical case analysis, research paper and in-class group presentations.

The course will be structure as follows:

Lecture 1 Introduction to the course and guidelines for the research paper

Lecture 2 Conceptualization and features of cyberspace, international political economy (IPE), International Relations theory (IR), international business and cyber security

Lecture 3 Are classical International Relations theories still valid in cyberspace?

Lecture 4 Selected case studies of cyber threats against international business actors: a critical analytical approach

Lecture 5 Seminars: The intersection between cyber security and international politics: policy and business oriented discussion.

Lecture 6 The concept of Public-Private Partnership in cyberspace: multistakeholderism or divergence of interests?

Lecture 7 Seminars: Cybersecurity, Emerging Technologies and the role of state and private actors in front of the concept of strategic digital autonomy (AI, big data, robotics, quantum computing)

Readings/Bibliography

Mandatory readings:

Brantly A.F., Van Puyvelde D., Cybersecurity: Politics, Governance and Conflict in Cyberspace, Oxford, Polity Press, 2019

Taylor, M. Z. (2016). The politics of innovation: Why some countries are better than others at science and technology. Oxford University Press,

Raj M. S. and Kiran S., “How to Cyberproof the Private Sector: The U.S. Can Harness the Market to Tackle the Cybersecurity Challenge” Foreign Affairs, January 13 2022 https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/north-america/2022-01-13/how-cyberproof-private-sector

Bremmer I., “The Technopolar Moment: How Digital Powers Will Reshape the Global Order” Foreign Affairs, Volume 100 • Number 6 November/December 2021

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2021-10-19/ian-bremmer-big-tech-global-order

Choucri N., “Introduction: CyberPolitics in International Relations.” International Political Science Review 21 (3) (2000): 243-263 

https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/141504/%5bChoucri%5d%202000%20CyberPolitics%20in%20International%20Relations.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 

Other additional and recommended readings will be distributed during the course.

Teaching methods

'Seminars and lectures will be held in presence for students of the Bologna campus and on line (on MS Teams) for students of the Forlì campus.'

This course will be delivered with in-class sessions combining lectures (internal and externals) and seminars, therefore attendance and participation are part of your course grade. Students are expected to attend all scheduled class sessions. Students will attend lectures (twice a week) on theoretical interpretations and real case study analysis. Given that the interaction is mandatory in order to be evaluated as “attending student” and the class is run in an interactive style, with classroom discussion on course material and current events related to the subject, students are required to read and understand contents of mandatory books and reading material distributed before each class.

Assessment methods

- Reading assignments and research paper (50% of the grade)

Lectures: All the compulsory readings for the lectures will be assessed with multiple-choice quiz. (25% of the overall grade)

Furthermore, attending students must write a research paper. Research paper must be well written according to academic standards and submitted 7 days before the exam. All formal requirements such as citation standards, footnotes etc. are important, but don’t forget to write highly critical paper. Be academic, analytical, critical, but don’t propose solutions, it is not a policy paper. I will not accept descriptive papers; critical thinking is required in the academic world. Research paper should have between 2500 and 3500 words.

You can omit abstract, but please write the paper in the following standard format:

1) introduction summarizing all thoughts and conclusion,

2) the body of your paper where you explain the topic, your reflection and critical analysis in detail,

3) overall summarization and conclusion explaining the results.

You can choose Harvard style for the paper. The paper will have the 25% of the overall grade.

- In-class presentations (50% of the grade)

The last part of the course will be dedicated to in-class groups presentations. Each group will select a topic (different from the one which is addressed in the research paper) which have to combine theoretical and empirical frameworks. For this task, students will write a short essay (one page 200-300 words) and a presentation (power point or similar) which will be distributed two days before to the instructor and to a student which will be indicated as discussant. For the presentation, critical approach is mandatory and concise capability is required (5 slides for 10 mins). This part is assessed as 25% of the overall grade

Attendance (active discussions and participation) in lectures and seminars is also assessed as 25% of the overall grade.

Non-attending students will be assessed through a written exam that will consist of multiple choices questions and 4 open questions and a research paper (2500-3500 words) that must be submitted one week before the exam. This assessment will test the knowledge of different contents of the course. The compulsory readings for non-attending students is composed of the following materials:

• Herrera, G.,Technology and international transformation: The railroad, the atom bomb, and the politics of technological change. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2006
• Brantly A.F., Van Puyvelde D., Cybersecurity: Politics, Governance and Conflict in Cyberspace, Oxford, Polity Press, 2019
• Choucri, N., Clark D.D., International Relations in the Cyber Age: The Co-Evolution Dilemma, Cambridge, MIT Press, 2018
• Taylor, M. Z. (2016). The politics of innovation: Why some countries are better than others at science and technology. Oxford University Press,

• Raj M. S. and Kiran S., “How to Cyberproof the Private Sector: The U.S. Can Harness the Market to Tackle the Cybersecurity Challenge” Foreign Affairs, January 13 2022 https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/north-america/2022-01-13/how-cyberproof-private-sector
  • Bremmer I., “The Technopolar Moment: How Digital Powers Will Reshape the Global Order” Foreign Affairs, Volume 100 • Number 6 November/December 2021

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2021-10-19/ian-bremmer-big-tech-global-order

Ethical behavior

Students are obliged to follow the Alma Mather University of Bologna ethics code. Plagiarism will be assesed with dedicated software, and if founded it invalidates the exam as “unethical”. This behaviour will be shared with university authorities.

Grading policy

The range of grading is between 18-30

Insufficient: knowledge of the topic is not even approximate or not correct.

18-21: elementary knowledge of the topic, and/or not always correct, partial ability to argue and elaborate

22-25: satisfactory knowledge of the subject, ability to argue and elaborate fairly solid

26-29: good or very good knowledge of the subject, good or very good ability to argue and elaborate

30: precise knowledge of the subject, ability to argue and elaborate very good

30 cum laude: precise knowledge of subject matter, very good argumentation and elaboration skills, relevant personal review of knowledge.

Office hours

See the website of Luigi Martino