In this episode, Sounds Strategic host Meia Nouwens is joined by Greg Austin, Senior Fellow for Cyber, Space and Future Conflict, and Franz-Stefan Gady, Research Fellow for Cyber, Space and Future Conflict, to discuss the findings of a new IISS report on cyber capabilities and national power.

A new report by the IISS has assessed the cyber power of 15 states, placing them into three tiers of capability. Following the launch of this major two-year study, Meia, Greg and Franz-Stefan discuss how to define and measure cyber power and who comes out on top.

Meia, Greg and Franz-Stefan discuss the categories used to assess each country’s cyber capabilities in the report, including strategy and doctrine, governance, cyber-intelligence capability, cyber security and resilience, global leadership and offensive cyber capability. According to the qualitative framework developed by IISS researchers, the United States is the only country with world-leading strengths in all categories, with China placed in the second tier of cyber powers.

Meia, Greg and Franz-Stefan go on to discuss the role of political culture, organisational relationships and governance models in shaping the relationship between cyber capabilities and how they are used by a state actor on the international stage, what we know about the operational activities of the US, Russia and China, how much cyber industrial strength matters, the impact of political stability and instability on the development of cyber capabilities and how middle powers can compete with great powers in cyberspace.

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Date of recording: 24 June 2021

Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.

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