The Geopolitical Compass Of Cyberspace: US-PRC Rivalry, The AI Convergence, and the European Union’s Strategic Role

Cyberspace has become a central arena for global geopolitical competition, increasingly shaped by the systemic rivalry between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This chapter examines how that rivalry is being transformed by the convergence of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, which amplifies both offensive and defensive capabilities while introducing new forms of risk associated with increasingly autonomous AI systems. Against this background, the European Union (EU) occupies a distinctive but structurally vulnerable position, caught between technological dependence on the United States and deep exposure to Chinese supply chains. The chapter argues that the EU’s main source of geopolitical leverage lies in its regulatory and normative capacity. Through instruments such as the AI Act, NIS2, and the Cyber Resilience Act, the EU is developing a model of digital governance centered on accountability, resilience, and human oversight. Yet regulatory power alone is insufficient. Strategic autonomy requires the capacity to translate regulation into technological and organizational capabilities, including continuous evaluation, oversight, and managerial decision-making for AI-enabled systems. Europe’s geopolitical role will therefore depend on its ability to combine normative power with operational capability, cyber resilience, and technological development