2 - “Legal Problem-Solution” and the Cyberwar Discourse

Summary

This chapter provides the background to Chapters 3, 4 and 5. It demarcates the analysis by, first, elaborating on the notion of ‘war’ in cyberspace, and second, on “legal problem-solution” (Koskenniemi) as the shared aim of the international legal scholars involved. It furthermore explains the focus of chapters 3 and 4 on the debate on Article 2(4) of the UN Charter in particular, and discusses some of the problems scholars run into as they try to apply the prohibition on the use of force to cyberattacks. The last part of the chapter provides a broad sketch of these attempts, and as a contrast to 'legal problem-solution' details the work of those scholars who claim that the characteristics of cyberattacks preclude their regulation under international law.