TY - JOUR
T1 - A fragile public preference for cyber strikes
T2 - Evidence from survey experiments in the United States, United Kingdom, and Israel
AU - Shandler, Ryan
AU - Gross, Michael L.
AU - Canetti, Daphna
N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the Israel Science Foundation under grant number 594/15; by the Center for Cyber Law and Policy at the University of Haifa in conjunction with the Israel National Cyber Directorate in the Prime Minister?s Office; and the Idit Doctoral Fellowship Program at the University of Haifa. The authors gratefully acknowledge Valentin Vancak and Dana Vashdi for their invaluable assistance in analyzing the research data, and Ofer Ravid for his video production and editing. We extend a heartfelt thank you to Sophia Backhaus and Sharon Matzkin who supported the research efforts from its inception to conclusion, and to Brandon Valeriano and Keren L.G. Snider for offering helpful feedback. Finally, our thanks go to journal editor Hylke Dijkstra for his diligence and guidance. All participants provided written informed consent to participate in the study, and the University of Haifa Ethics Committee approved all experimental procedures (approval number 235/18). The online appendix can be accessed at: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/7C1MGB Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - To what extent does the public support the use of cyber weapons? We propose that public exposure to the destructive potential of cyber-attacks will dispel the clear cross-national preference for cyber strikes. To test this, we conducted two survey experiments (n = 2,585) that examine support for cyber versus conventional military strikes in the United States, United Kingdom, and Israel. In study 1, we exposed respondents to television news reports depicting various forms of terror attacks, and then measured the subsequent support for retaliatory options. Findings indicate that the high public support for deploying cyber weapons dissipated entirely among respondents exposed to lethal cyber-attacks. In study 2, we probed this vanishing support, finding that exposure to destructive cyber-attacks undercuts the perception of cyber as a less lethal domain, therefore diminishing its appeal. We conclude by discussing how the fragile public preference for cyber weapons encourages military escalation in the short-term.
AB - To what extent does the public support the use of cyber weapons? We propose that public exposure to the destructive potential of cyber-attacks will dispel the clear cross-national preference for cyber strikes. To test this, we conducted two survey experiments (n = 2,585) that examine support for cyber versus conventional military strikes in the United States, United Kingdom, and Israel. In study 1, we exposed respondents to television news reports depicting various forms of terror attacks, and then measured the subsequent support for retaliatory options. Findings indicate that the high public support for deploying cyber weapons dissipated entirely among respondents exposed to lethal cyber-attacks. In study 2, we probed this vanishing support, finding that exposure to destructive cyber-attacks undercuts the perception of cyber as a less lethal domain, therefore diminishing its appeal. We conclude by discussing how the fragile public preference for cyber weapons encourages military escalation in the short-term.
KW - Cyber-attacks
KW - cyber escalation
KW - cyber warfare
KW - foreign policy
KW - public opinion
KW - terrorism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099180161&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1080/13523260.2020.1868836
DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/13523260.2020.1868836
M3 - Article
SN - 1352-3260
VL - 42
SP - 135
EP - 162
JO - Contemporary Security Policy
JF - Contemporary Security Policy
IS - 2
ER -
