10

The consensus in academic literature on conflict in post-colonial Africa is that the continent has experienced many civil wars but very few interstate-armed conflicts. Based on a new data set, a new article co-authored by CSS’ Alllard Dursma questions this consensus. The authors find that transnational links are a major feature of armed conflict in Africa. Therefore, conflict resolution and prevention should no longer be seen as solely an internal matter for the country concerned.

Over the last decade, cyber incidents have become more expensive, more disruptive and more political. This article by Myriam Dunn Cavelty and Prof. Andreas Wenger introduces a special issue of Contemporary Security Policy on cyber security politics, providing a historical overview of this topic and the academic literature that developed with it.

With the number of politically relevant cyber incidents continuously rising, the correct attribution of these incidents becomes crucial as wrongly attributed operations might further increase tensions between rivals. This article by Miguel Gomez investigates how foreign policy elites evaluate cyber operations.

The public debate over military use of artificial intelligence (AI) mainly revolves around autonomous weapons systems. Looking beyond the specific ethical and political considerations associated with that issue, there are important questions relating to the organizational, technical, and functional integration of AI-enabled systems that determine the balance between potential benefits and risks.

Russia and China are celebrating their “strategic partnership”, and have been vastly expanding their cooperation since 2014. In this CSS Analysis, Jeronim Perović and Benno Zogg argue that their close alliance is based on economic and geopolitical considerations. While it is mutually beneficial, it also has its limitations. However, in the mid-term, both China and Russia appear to be willing to overlook potential fields of tension, for instance in Central Asia.