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.”
Douglas Alexander
The Right Honourable Douglas Alexander is a Senior Fellow at the Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard Kennedy School, a Visiting Professor at Kings College, London, Trustee of the Royal United Services Institute, and a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. He currently serves as Chair of Unicef UK and as Senior Advisor to the Rise Fund; a new $2bn global impact fund aligned with delivering the Sustainable Development Goals, and to U2 Frontman Bono; advising on investment and development in Africa. Mr. Alexander previously served in the U.K. Government for nine years, and as a Member of the UK Parliament for eighteen years. As the UK's Governor to the World Bank, and the UK’s International Development Secretary, Alexander was tasked with developing innovative approaches to resolve and preempt some of the most complex challenges to the wellbeing of the global economy. Alexander also served as Minister of State for E-Commerce & Competitiveness, Minister of State for Cabinet Office, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs, attending the Cabinet of Tony Blair as Minister for Europe, before becoming Secretary of State for Scotland and Secretary of State for Transport. As Secretary of State for Transport, jointly with the Home Secretary, Mr Alexander led the UK’s response to the 2006 Transatlantic Aircraft Terror Plot, working with Police, Intelligence Agencies, the Airlines and the US Department of Homeland Security.