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.”
The Managing the Atom Project is initiating a summer seminar series entitled “Nuclear 101,” presenting overviews of key issues affecting the future of nuclear weapons, energy, and nonproliferation policies. Topics will include:
- Uranium enrichment and plutonium production
- Nuclear weapons strategy
- IAEA safeguards
- Technologies + approaches for securing nuclear facilities and transports
- Nuclear weapons operations/ de-alerting
The seminars will generally take place in the Belfer Center library, from 10:00-11:30 on Tuesdays in June and July; topics on specific dates to be determined.