Toward an Integrated Theory of Space-Cyber Power

In his seminal book The Influence of Sea Power upon History, Mahan demonstrated how Great Britain’s sea power paved the way for its emergence as the world’s dominant military, political, and economic power, and articulated a theory of sea power. More recently, outer space and cyberspace emerged as operational military domains, as well as their nexus, as demonstrated during the war in Ukraine that has been dubbed as the “first space-cyber war.” The emerging space-cyber nexus poses risks to shared critical infrastructure and presents vexing governance challenges. At the same time, it allows for the accumulation and projection of power and influence. Nevertheless, there has been no corresponding exploration like Mahan’s on the utility and limits of space-cyber power in modern international affairs. Sea power doctrine is already established and mature. Space power doctrine, on the other hand, has evolved from the 2001 Rumsfeld Commission report through to the 2011 National Defense University’s “Toward A Theory of Spacepower and the 2020 U.S. Space Force’ “Spacepower: Doctrine for Space Forces.” This project aims to build the foundations for the missing space-cyber power doctrine: what power means in the era of a combined space-cyber theaters and operations, and how nations can leverage their space-cyber power to maintain and increase their influence in a world defined by multipolar geostrategic competition.

For inquiries, you may reach out to Dr. Tepper at eytepper@iu.edu.