The overarching question imparting urgency to this exploration is: Can U.S.-Russian contention in cyberspace cause the two nuclear superpowers to stumble into war? In considering this question we were constantly reminded of recent comments by a prominent U.S. arms control expert: At least as dangerous as the risk of an actual cyberattack, he observed, is cyber operations’ “blurring of the line between peace and war.” Or, as Nye wrote, “in the cyber realm, the difference between a weapon and a non-weapon may come down to a single line of code, or simply the intent of a computer program’s user.”
A seminar with Frederic Wehrey, Senior Fellow, Middle East Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on his new book The Burning Shores: Inside the Battle for the New Libya from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Moderated by Stephen Walt, Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School.
Followed by a book signing at Harvard COOP Bookstore at 1400 Massachusetts Avenue in Harvard Square.
The death of Colonel Muammar Qadhafi in 2011 freed Libya from forty-two years of despotic rule, raising hopes for a new era. But in the aftermath, the country descended into bitter rivalries and civil war, paving the way for the Islamic State and a catastrophic migrant crisis. What went wrong? Based on years of on-the-ground reporting in Libya and interviews with Western policymakers, Middle East scholar Frederic Wehrey will discuss his new book, The Burning Shores: Inside the Battle for the New Libya.
Frederic Wehrey is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His writing on Libya has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and other publications. A U.S. military veteran with tours across the Middle East, he holds a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University. His first book, Sectarian Politics in the Gulf, was chosen as a Best Book on the Middle East by Foreign Affairs magazine. Born and raised in Southern California, he now lives in Washington, D.C. | ![]() |