This project investigates how international law has responded to the challenges posed by digitalization, focusing on how emerging digital phenomena are reshaping foundational principles of global governance. It delves into the evolving arguments states have made regarding digitalization, where many issues once considered settled in the physical world have reemerged due to the complexities of data, code, electronic transfers, and cyberspace, which do not easily conform to traditional legal frameworks. Additionally, digitalization has intensified longstanding debates, such as the legality of espionage.

In the context of a fractured geopolitical landscape, where consensus on key issues has been hard to reach, the project focuses on the interpretation and application of existing legal norms. Rather than merely addressing surface-level legal arguments, it explores the underlying assumptions about both the digital domain and the core principles of international law that shape these debates. The research will analyze five key issues: territorial sovereignty (including espionage and cyberattacks), the distinction between war and peace, information collection via intermediaries (such as cloud service providers), the protection of civilian data in times of conflict, and the regulation of data trade.

The project will be pursued within the framework of the recently formed Stockholm Centre of Excellence on Global Governance. It will also take advantage of the local research environment at the law department, in particular the Stockholm Centre for International Law and Justice, the Swedish Law and Informatics Research Institute.