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.”
As President Trump returns from his first visit to China as Commander-in-Chief, how is U.S. foreign policy reacting to a new administration in Washington and a new rising power in Beijing?
The Harvard Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation present Ambassador and Harvard Kennedy School Professor Nicholas Burns, in conversation with Jeeyang Rhee Baum, Ezra Vogel, and Odd Arne Westad, moderated by Michael Szonyi.
Speaker:
Ambassador (Ret.) Nicholas Burns, Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations, Harvard Kennedy School; Former U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Discussants:
Ezra Vogel, Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences Emeritus, Harvard University
Odd Arne Westad, S.T. Lee Professor of U.S.-Asia Relations, Harvard Kennedy School
Jeeyang Rhee Baum, Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
Moderator:
Michael Szonyi, Director, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and Professor of Chinese History
This event was sponsored by Harvard’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance, and the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies.