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.”
Daniel Lansberg-Rodriguez, HKS alumnus (MPP 2009) and member of the US Institute for Peace's Comparative Constitution Project, outlines common strategies used in dissident suppression, drawing upon case studies from around the world as well as his own experiences in the Venezuelan opposition and those of fellow HKS alumni Bakhtiyar Hajiyev MPP 2009 (currently in prison in Azerbaijan) and Leopoldo Lopez MPP 1996 (currently banned from elected office in Venezuela).
Moderated by Hugh O’Doherty, adjunct lecturer in public policy, Harvard Kennedy School
Co-sponsored by the HKS Venezuelan Caucus, Center for Public Leadership, Center for International Development, Middle East Initiative, and Kokkalis Program on Southeastern and East-Central Europe