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.”
Eben Harrell, Jim Smith and Sharon Wilke will discuss how to write for and talk to members of the media in order to get your policy ideas into the public debate.
Eben Harrell is a Research Associate at theProject on Managing the Atom in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School. Harrell, an award-winning journalist, worked for four years in the London bureau of TIME magazine prior to joining HKS. He has also written for the Economist and Sports Illustrated and worked on the staff of the Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh and the Aspen Times in Colorado.
Jim Smith joined the Belfer Center as director of communications in July 2010 after more than two decades in journalism. At the Boston Globe from 2002 to 2010, he was foreign editor, national political editor and international affairs reporter, writing and blogging about Boston's global connections. He was Mexico City bureau chief and economic correspondent for the Los Angeles Times from 1997 to 2002, and the paper's bureau chief for southern South America from 1987 to 1990. During 12 years in South Africa, he worked as correspondent and news editor for the Associated Press, and also was founding editor of Business Report, the national business section for the Independent Newspapers chain.
Sharon Wilke is the Associate Director of Communications for the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. As a communications consultant prior to joining the Belfer Center, she organized and directed publicity and outreach campaigns, coordinated media coverage and produced a range of publications and written materials for corporate and non-profit clients.