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.”
Please join the Intelligence Project for a seminar with author Chris Whipple to discuss his new book, The Spymasters: How the CIA Directors Shape History and the Future.
In this session Chris will provide a thorough and illuminating portrait of America’s CIA directors—based on extensive interviews with the directors themselves—those upon whom the country depends to prevent another 9/11, or even a deadly pandemic.
Chris will explore questions such as:
- What’s the proper relationship between the CIA director and the president?
- Should directors obey illegal orders?
- How important is the director’s role as the nation’s honest broker of information during times of crisis?
- How does a Director deal with a President who rejects intelligence that conflicts with his beliefs?
Based on exclusive, unvarnished, and eye-opening interviews with former CIA directors and other top U.S. intelligence officials, including George Tenet, Leon Panetta, John Brennan, and David Petraeus, Chris will answer these questions and more, offering inside stories behind our country’s greatest intelligence coups and blunders.
Chris Whipple is an acclaimed writer, journalist, documentary filmmaker, and speaker. A multiple Peabody and Emmy Award–winning producer at CBS’s 60 Minutes and ABC’s Primetime, he is the chief executive officer of CCWHIP Productions. He is a frequent guest on MSNBC and CNN, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post.
He is the author of the acclaimed New York Times best-seller, The Gatekeepers: How the White House chiefs of staff define every presidency and the executive producer and writer of Showtime’s The Spymasters: CIA in the Crosshairs. His latest book, The Spymasters: How the CIA Directors Shape History and the Future, was published on September 15, 2020.
