Please join us to listen to Professor Dennis Broeders, one of the University's 2023/24 Global Chairs hosted by the Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies, the Institute for Digital Security and Behaviour, and the International Relations Office, deliver a public lecture titled 'International Cyber Security in the Geopolitical Age'.

A reception will be held directly after the lecture, where drinks and canapés will be provided.

Abstract

In this special lecture Professor Broeders will focus on two actors that are hardly recognised in international law and diplomacy, but take centre stage when it comes to cyber conflict and the digital economy, he will sketch how and why policymakers and diplomats face an uphill battle to negotiate cyber and digital policies in a geopolitical age. Firstly, in the grey zone of cyber conflict, intelligence agencies – not militaries – are responsible for most cyber operations and the damage connected to them. Yet, international law and diplomacy are mostly silent on intelligence and espionage. Secondly, in our age of geo-economic competition, de-coupling and economic security much policy will have to take effect through (global) corporations. Yet, these are also mostly non-entities in terms of international law, have their own interests, and some of them are economic entities the size of states. In his lecture professor Broeders will go into the behaviour of intelligence agencies and global tech corporations and the challenges they pose to international policymaking.

Biography

Professor Dennis Broeders' is Professor of Global Security and Technology at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University. His research and teaching is centred around the interaction between international security, technology and policy, with a particular focus on the changing nature of cyber governance in the digital age.

Prof Broeders is a Senior Fellow of The Hague Program on International Cyber Security and Project Coordinator of the EU Cyber Direct project. A policy processes advisor to the Sino-EU cyber dialogue and the United Nations Groups of Governmental Experts (GGE), Prof Broeders has contributed to the national and international debate on cyber security and international norms in many different fora, including the United Nations, European Union, Internet Governance Forum, and the CyFy and CyCon conferences.