GEOGRAPHY AND CYBERSPACE. THE FORGOTTEN RELEVANCE OF TERRITORY FOR DIGITAL POWER
type: CreativeWork
description: By stepping away from disembodied accounts of cyberspace, this study recasts the digital order as irreducibly spatial and materially grounded. While it is true that cyberspace is a great “destroyer” of distances and in some ways “leveler” of places, it is nevertheless impossible to think of it without considering its underlying base of physical networks still exposed to the constraint of location, the action of the atmospheric elements, the “centripetal force” of territoriality, and the control of actors exercising political power over the territory. It is precisely this materiality − and the nexus linking cyberspace, geography, and the territoriality of political power, including its digital expressions − that constitutes the core focus of this dissertation. Two research questions guide the inquiry. First, how do geographical factors condition the global distribution and topology of core infrastructures? Second, to what extent does the pursuit of cyber power translate into territorial strategies of governance by great powers? The design is mixed-methods. Chapter I offers a critical genealogy of cyberspace that dismantles the liberal, immaterial vision and identifies three phases from strategic genesis to securitized contestation. Focusing on the United States, it documents the move from market-driven to state-centered governance and argues for reintegrating spatial and geopolitical analysis to explain cyber power and digital sovereignty. Chapter II maps submarine fiber-optic cables, landing stations, and data centers. Through historical reconstruction, GIS-based spatial analysis, and graph metrics, it advances and tests four hypotheses: (1) cables disproportionately concentrate around maritime chokepoints; (2) the cable system is hierarchical, with a limited set of states anchoring connectivity and regional brokers linking clusters; (3) data centres are highly concentrated in advanced, digitally interconnected regions; and (4) siting reflects a balance between clim…
abstract: By stepping away from disembodied accounts of cyberspace, this study recasts the digital order as irreducibly spatial and materially grounded. While it is true that cyberspace is a great “destroyer” of distances and in some ways “leveler” of places, it is nevertheless impossible to think of it without considering its underlying base of physical networks still exposed to the constraint of location, the action of the atmospheric elements, the “centripetal force” of territoriality, and the control of actors exercising political power over the territory. It is precisely this materiality − and the nexus linking cyberspace, geography, and the territoriality of political power, including its digital expressions − that constitutes the core focus of this dissertation. Two research questions guide the inquiry. First, how do geographical factors condition the global distribution and topology of core infrastructures? Second, to what extent does the pursuit of cyber power translate into territorial strategies of governance by great powers? The design is mixed-methods. Chapter I offers a critical genealogy of cyberspace that dismantles the liberal, immaterial vision and identifies three phases from strategic genesis to securitized contestation. Focusing on the United States, it documents the move from market-driven to state-centered governance and argues for reintegrating spatial and geopolitical analysis to explain cyber power and digital sovereignty. Chapter II maps submarine fiber-optic cables, landing stations, and data centers. Through historical reconstruction, GIS-based spatial analysis, and graph metrics, it advances and tests four hypotheses: (1) cables disproportionately concentrate around maritime chokepoints; (2) the cable system is hierarchical, with a limited set of states anchoring connectivity and regional brokers linking clusters; (3) data centres are highly concentrated in advanced, digitally interconnected regions; and (4) siting reflects a balance between clim…
author: LANDONI, EDOARDO MARIA
language: eng
keywords: geography, territoriality, cyberspace, submarine cable, data center, digital sovereignty, cyberpower., Settore GSPS-02/A - Scienza politica
date published: 2026-04-07
date modified: 2026-07-27T20:18:53Z
provider: Università degli Studi di Milano
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Università degli Studi di Milano

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/1227935