Hermeneutics of Critical Cyber Security Studies? Rethinking contemporary theoretical debates and the case of Serbia

Abstract

Looking at South-East Europe, and the case of Serbia, offers key insights into reassessing current theoretical debates on cyber (in)security, online disinformation and fake news, and the role of key powers such as China, Russia and the US in this context. Considering the ongoing debate between actor-centered theories of e.g. Balzaq and Cavelty, on the one hand, and political ontology by e.g. Liebetrau and Christensen on the other, the issue of adaptivity of theoretical frameworks in specific cases arises. Hermeneutics represents a possible approach to not only create a synthesis, but also to better understand the relationship between cybersecurity and international relations. In this paper I argue that the specific interrelationship between complexity and interconnectivity of both domestic and foreign factors renders the case of Serbia particularly well suited to investigating our conceptual and empirical understanding of International Relations.