Beyond the UN: the Feasibility of Conducting Peace Enforcement Operations in the Grey Zone of Cyberspace

Bloomfield, Robert Ernest George (2025) Beyond the UN: the Feasibility of Conducting Peace Enforcement Operations in the Grey Zone of Cyberspace. Doctoral thesis, The University of Buckingham.

Text 1703494 - Robb Bloomfield - PhD Thesis - Inc Modifications - Final Version.pdf - Submitted Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (5MB)

Abstract

War has been an inevitable consequence of human existence since time immemorial. Peace, however, has been described as a more modern invention. The United Nations have conducted successive generations of peace operations for 75 years, but the rise in intrastate conflicts, irregular warfare, and the resulting loss of the state monopoly of violence is challenging these responses. In addition, it is now assured that modern conflicts will have a cyber component, characteristically taking place in an area of normative uncertainty referred to as the grey zone, below the threshold of conventional warfare and unbound by International Humanitarian Law. These operations pose a threat to international peace and security, and therefore civilians should have the same rights and protections in cyberspace as they would during a kinetic conflict. But while the boundaries of war and peace are unclear, there is unlikely to be a peace for the UN to keep. Cyber peacekeeping has been proposed as the solution, and prior examinations have identified a requirement to ascertain the feasibility of carrying out the proposals in practice, as well as enforcing these types of operations without the consent of the belligerent parties. This thesis addresses that knowledge gap and contributes to scholarship by finding that the provision of peacekeeping in cyberspace has limited feasibility and practicality when considered as a UN function. Instead, delivery goes beyond the role of the UN and must be conducted in stabilisation terms while conflict and sub-threshold activities continue. This multi-faceted approach must incorporate the civil sector, NGOs, and the private sector organisations with responsibility for global infrastructure and services that citizens rely on, in order to achieve long-term success and stability. In addition, peace in these terms must be considered as more than an absence of war; states will not cede the tactical advantages that cyber power brings to grand strategy, and therefore a feasible peace process requires a concerted effort to address the underlying causes of conflict in digital terms, such as poverty, inequality, and political oppression, alongside an international commitment to the promotion of human rights and dignity. The significance of this research is that prior findings have been confirmed and new contributions have been made to the research area.

Actions (login required)

View Item