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.”
Lieutenant Colonel David Kelley will provide an overview of America’s land based strategic nuclear deterrent.
Lieutenant Colonel David D. Kelley is a National Defense Fellow with the International Security Program and Project on Managing the Atom at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Prior to his current assignment, Colonel Kelley was the deputy commander of the 91st Operations Group at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, where he directed more than 400 Air Force Airmen in charge of the nation's land-based intercontinental ballistic missile force. He has also served as a commander of an intercontinental ballistic missile squadron, as well as in a variety of staff positions at the wing, Combatant Command, and Major Command levels.