O CIBERESPAÇO COMO OBJETO DE ESTUDO NAS RELAÇÕES INTERNACIONAIS: BREVE ANÁLISE À LUZ DAS TEORIAS DO REALISMO E CONSTRUTIVISMO

Abstract

Since the last third of the twentieth century, following the revolution in information and communication technologies and the advent of the Internet, cyberspace has assumed increasing importance for contemporary societies — both geopolitically and geoeconomically, as a global arena of interaction and power contestation among diverse actors. Taking into account the profound impact of cyberspace on modern societies and, more specifically, within the field of International Relations (IR), this article seeks to analyze and understand how Realism and Constructivism, as key theoretical schools of IR, interpret the dynamics of power and interaction in cyberspace, which is conceptualized here as an anthropological non-place and a non-physical structure that is socially and discursively constructed. To achieve this aim, the focus is placed on the State as the common actor within both theoretical frameworks, with the goal of identifying points of convergence and divergence regarding cyberspace, and of understanding the ontological and epistemological foundations that sustain its construction as an object of study. Finally, the article presents, from our perspective, the main future challenges that cyberspace and its emerging trends pose to IR theory, particularly in relation to its central goal of explaining and promoting knowledge of the surrounding international reality.