“Cyber as sovereignty space: state transformation in the periphery of Europe”

The debates over cyberspace and digitalization and their impact over sovereignty have recently had lively discussions in the literature of international relations. This sovereignty debate in the periphery of Europe regarding cyberspace is emerging and it has become an area in which national authorities have sought to claim their share. The paper analyses cyberspace and digitalization and how they have affected the understanding of sovereignty over cyberspace and how they have transformed the state in a specific country case study in the periphery of Europe. It achieves this by focusing on Albania. Cyberspace and digitalization have emerged as priorities for domestic politics, in which Tirana has endeavoured to act by applying the norms emerging internationally and they have been sources for the new role of Albanian institutions domestically. Albanian actors appear to have been less responsive to cyberspace responsibilities, by considering that Albania is not a powerful and rich enough to be a target of cyber attacks. In conditions where it has been responsive, the focus has been more on issues that concern general digitalization politics.