Research and Publications

We publish policy briefs and edited collections of short papers on new developments and issues in the field of international cyber security (The Hague Program Publications). Our researchers also regularly publish their work in journals and scholarly books and edited volumes.

Core concerns: The need for a governance framework to protect global Internet infrastructure

Article by Dennis Broeders and Arun Sukumar in Policy & Internet, on how norms and international law are still ill-equipped to regulate damaging cyber operations, given unsettled questions regarding the sovereignty of states over global Internet infrastructure, and the precise scope of their existing international obligations towards its protection.

The Hague Program Publications

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The pervasive informality of the international cybersecurity regime: Geopolitics, non-state actors and diplomacy

Article by Arun Sukumar, Dennis Broeders and Monica Kello in Contemporary Security Policy.

The Hague Program Publications

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Cybersecurity and the politics of knowledge production: towards a reflexive practice

This forum in the Journal of Cyber Policy, based on our February 2022 event on knowledge production, features contributions by James Shires, Tobias Liebetrau, Dennis Broeders, Myriam Dunn Cavelty, Noran Shafik Fouad, Louise Marie Hurel, Tim Stevens, and edited by Fabio Cristiano and Xymena Kurowska

The Hague Program Publications

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Special Issue: International Cybersecurity Governance

This special issue in Contemporary Security Policy collects some of the best papers from our 2022 annual conference, and features contributions by Josephine Wolff, Mark Raymond, Justin Sherman, André Barrinha, Rebecca Turner, James Shires, Arun Sukumar, Dennis Broeders and Monica Kello.

The Hague Program Publications

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Shades of Grey: Cyber Intelligence and (Inter)national Security

This paper about cyber intelligence in the context of national and international security builds on the discussion held during a Research Seminar organised by Dennis Broeders and Camino Kavanagh for the EU Cyber Direct project on 3 November 2022.

The Hague Program Publications

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Building an International Cybersecurity Regime: Multistakeholder Diplomacy

Edited volume, available open access, edited by Ian Johnstone, Arun Sukumar, and Joel Trachtman, providing a much-needed study on cybersecurity regime building, this comprehensive book is a detailed analysis of cybersecurity norm-making processes and country positions, through the lens of multi-stakeholder diplomacy.

The Hague Program Publications

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Hybridity, Conflict, and the Global Politics of Cybersecurity

Edited volume of papers from our 2020 Conference on Cyber Norms, edited by Fabio Cristiano and Bibi van den Berg, with contributions on the themes of emerging normative practices, emerging threats and technologies and emerging actors, available completely open access.

The Hague Program Publications

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Pushing boundaries: An empirical view on the digital sovereignty of six governments in the midst of geopolitical tensions

Dennis Broeders, together with co-authors Bernardus Jansen, Natalia Kadenko, Michel van Eeten, Kevin Borgolte and Tobias Fiebig, published an article in Government Information Quarterly on digital sovereignty, investigating to which extent government services and communication with citizens relies on infrastructure outside their own jurisdiction for India, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Taiwan, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

The Hague Program Publications

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Responsible Behaviour in Cyberspace: Global narratives and practice

This edited volume draws from papers presented at the conference Closing the Gap | Responsibility in Cyberspace: Narratives and Practice, organized in June 2022 at the Egmont Palace in Brussels, Belgium, by Leiden University, as part of the EU Cyber Direct project, and was edited by François Delerue, Arun Sukumar and Dennis Broeders.

The Hague Program Publications

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Artificial Intelligence and International Conflict in Cyberspace

Our edited volume Artificial Intelligence and International Conflict in Cyberspace, a collaboration with GÉODE, and edited by Fabio Cristiano, Dennis Broeders, François Delerue, Frédérick Douzet and Aude Géry is out now, in open access.

The Hague Program Publications

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The Cyber Dimensions of the Russia-Ukraine War

Taylor Grossman, Monica Kaminska, James Shires and Max Smeets co-authored this ECCRI report on wartime cyber dimensions in Ukraine.

The Hague Program Publications

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In Search of Digital Sovereignty and Strategic Autonomy: Normative Power Europe to the Test of Its Geopolitical Ambitions

Dennis Broeders, Fabio Cristiano and Monica Kaminska published an article (available open access) in the Journal of Common Market Studies. Their article analyses the recent use of European Union (EU) terminology of digital sovereignty and strategic autonomy, aiming to identify tensions between policy considerations of fundamental rights, free market principles and geopolitical concerns.

The Hague Program Publications

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Digital Sovereignty: From Narrative To Policy?

This publication, edited by Senior Fellow Dennis Broeders, collects the results of our research seminar co-organized with EU Cyber Direct on digital sovereignty, with contributions by our research team member Monica Kaminska, Raluca Csernatoni, Kristina Irion, Giorgio Monti, Margarita Robles-Carrillo, Simona Soare and Paul Timmers.

The Hague Program Publications

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Revisiting past cyber operations in light of new cyber norms and interpretations of international law: inching towards lines in the sand?

Dennis Broeders, Els De Busser, Fabio Cristiano and Tatiana Tropina published an article (available open access) in Journal of Cyber Policy. Their premise: would older cyber operations, in light of new thinking on international law and norms of responsible state behaviour, be viewed differently if they happened today?

The Hague Program Publications

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Responding to the COVID-19 ‘infodemic’: National countermeasures against information influence in Europe

This collection, edited by Sophie Vériter, Monica Kaminska, Dennis Broeders and Joachim Koops, includes six papers exploring and investigating European responses to COVID-related disinformation, specifically the responses of France, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, Serbia, and Hungary.

The Hague Program Publications

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Toward an Aesthetics by Algorithms—Palestinian Cyber and Digital Spaces at the Threshold of (In)visibility

Chapter by Fabio Cristiano and Emilio Distretti for the volume The Aesthetics and Politics of the Online Self, edited by Donatella Della Ratta, Geert Lovink, Teresa Numerico, and Peter Sarram for Palgrave Macmillan.

The Hague Program Publications

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Too Close for Comfort: Cyber Terrorism and Information Security across National Policies and International Diplomacy

Article by Dennis Broeders, Fabio Cristiano and Daan Weggemans in Studies of Conflict & Terrorism

The Hague Program Publications

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Limiting Viral Spread: Automated Cyber Operations and the Principles of Distinction and Discrimination in the Grey Zone

Monica Kaminska, Dennis Broeders and Fabio Cristiano have contributed a chapter to the proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Cyber Conflict (CyCon 2021)

The Hague Program Publications

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The (im)possibilities of addressing election interference and the public core of the internet in the UN GGE and OEWG

Article by Dennis Broeders in the Journal of Cyber Policy

The Hague Program Publications

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Private active cyber defense and (international) cyber security—pushing the line?

Article by Dennis Broeders as part of a special issue for Journal of Cybersecurity.

The Hague Program Publications

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Restraint under conditions of uncertainty: Why the United States tolerates cyberattacks

Article by Monica Kaminska as part of a special issue for Journal of Cybersecurity.

The Hague Program Publications

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Manipulating uncertainty: cybersecurity politics in Egypt

Article by Bassant Hassib and James Shires as part of a special issue for Journal of Cybersecurity

The Hague Program Publications

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Palestine: Whose Cyber Security without Cyber Sovereignty?

Chapter on Palestine for the Routledge Companion to Global Cyber-Security Strategy by Fabio Cristiano.

The Hague Program Publications

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Israel: Cyber Warfare and Security as National Trademarks of International Legitimacy

Chapter on Israel for the Routledge Companion to Global Cyber-Security Strategy by Fabio Cristiano.

The Hague Program Publications

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Countering cyber terrorism in a time of 'war on words': Kryptonite for the protection of digital rights?

This collection, edited by Fabio Cristiano, Dennis Broeders and Daan Weggemans, includes six short policy-focused contributions exploring how legislation and policy on counter cyber terrorism unfold at the national level in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, France, and at the regional level of the European Union.

The Hague Program Publications

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Governing Cyberspace: Behavior, Power and Diplomacy

This edited volume is based on a selection of papers presented during The Hague Program for Cyber Norms' inaugural conference Novel Horizons: Responsible Behaviour in Cyberspace from 5-7 November 2018 in The Hague. The volume is edited by Dennis Broeders and Bibi van den Berg, and will be available on 16 July under open access via Rowman & Littlefield.

The Hague Program Publications

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Three tales of attribution in cyberspace. Criminal law, international law and policy debates

In this policy brief, Dennis Broeders, Els De Busser and Patryk Pawlak discuss attribution of in cyberspace from three different perspectives: criminal law, international law and policy. Published together with EU Cyber Direct.

The Hague Program Publications

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Deterritorializing Cyber Security and Warfare in Palestine: Hackers, Sovereignty, and the National Cyberspace as Normative

Journal article by Fabio Cristiano for CyberOrient.

The Hague Program Publications

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Application of International Law to Cyber Operations: A Comparative Analysis of States' Views

In this policy brief, Przemysław Roguski offers a comparative analysis of seven States on how international law applies to cyber operations.

The Hague Program Publications

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Mutually Assured Diplomacy: Governance, 'unpeace' and diplomacy in cyberspace

Dennis Broeders wrote an essay for Digital Debates, a publication accompanying the 2019 CyFy conference in India, highlighting three developments that are vital for the development for the international debate about internet governance and cyber diplomacy.

The Hague Program Publications

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A coalition of the unwilling? Chinese and Russian perspectives on cyberspace

In this policy brief, Dennis Broeders, Liisi Adamson and Rogier Creemers explore aspects of the relationship between China and Russia in cyberspace.

The Hague Program Publications

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The unexpected norm-setters: Intelligence agencies in cyberspace

Journal article by Ilina Georgieva for the journal Contemporary Security Policy.

The Hague Program Publications

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Foreign intelligence in the digital age. Navigating a state of 'unpeace'.

In this policy brief, Dennis Broeders, Sergei Boeke and Ilina Georgieva explore the role of intelligence agencies in cyberspace and the (im)possibilities of oversight and regulation of those agencies.

The Hague Program Publications

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Let Them Roar: Small States as Cyber Norm Entrepreneurs

Journal article by Liisi Adamson and Zine Homburger for the journal European Foreign Affairs Review.

The Hague Program Publications

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Conceptual Ambiguity of International Norms on State Behaviour in Cyberspace

Paper by Zine Homburger in EU Cyber Direct’s Research Focus series.

The Hague Program Publications

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The Necessity and Pitfall of Cybersecurity Capacity Building for Norm Development in Cyberspace

Journal article by Zine Homburger for the journal Global Society.

The Hague Program Publications

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Restricting Access to Services or Information Systems in Light of Trade in Services Commitments

Journal article by Zine Homburger for the Temple International & Comparative Law Review.

The Hague Program Publications

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The Demilitarisation of Cyberspace

Journal article by Sergei Boeke and Dennis Broeders in the journal Survival.

The Hague Program Publications

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UNODA Commentary

Voluntary, Non-Binding Norms for Responsible State Behaviour in the Use of Information and Communications Technology: A Commentary.

The Hague Program Publications

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Norms Commentary Project UN GGE

In June 2016, Leiden University’s The Hague Program for Cyber Norms, a research platform to investigate the development and implementation of law and policy applicable to uses of ICT, launched a global open consultation on how to implement the UN Group of Governmental Experts’ (UN GGE) recommendations on responsible State behaviour in cyberspace.