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 conversation with Yoram Meital, Associate Professor, Middle East Studies, Ben-Gurion University; Chairman, Ben-Gurion University Chaim Herzog Center for ME Studies & Diplomacy; Visiting Scholar, Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard University.
Part of the HKS Conversation Series: Will the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Be Resolved?, a multi-part series hosted by Middle East Initiative fellow Diana Buttu, former legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team and former advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
RSVP is required. RSVP to middle_east_initiative@hks.harvard.edu
Participants are asked to read the following before attending this session:
Akiva Eldar, Lords of the Land: the War Over Israel’s Settlements (2009). Chapters 6 and 7. *Available through the Harvard library and the Minuteman Library Network. Link coming soon.
The HKS Conversation Series is made possible by the generous support of Sidney Topol.