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.”
Kara Swisher, Editor-at-Large of Recode, discusses the intersection of technology and public purpose with former Secretary of Defense and current Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Ash Carter.
Kara Swisher
Editor-at-Large, Recode
Host, Recode Decode and Pivot Podcasts
Contributing Opinion Writer, New York Times
Ash Carter
Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and Belfer Professor of Technology and Global Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Director, Technology and Public Purpose Project
United States Secretary of Defense (2015-2017)