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.”
Does the spread of nuclear energy to new countries increase the likelihood of nuclear weapons proliferation? This talk evaluates the historical evidence that bears on this question and assesses the effectiveness of international efforts to break the link between energy and weapons.
Nicholas Miller is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Brown University. His research focuses on nuclear proliferation and U.S. nonproliferation policy. His work has been published in the American Political Science Review, International Organization, International Security, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, and Security Studies. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from MIT and a B.A. in Government from Wesleyan University.