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.”
Biography
Ambassador Clifford Sobel is a Senior Partner of Valor Capital Group. Clifford Sobel served as Ambassador to the Netherlands and Brazil, spanning both the Bush and Obama Administrations.
He has served on Advisory Boards to the American Military Commander of Europe and NATO, as well as the Command for American Forces for Central and South America. He is on the Board of Directors for several companies and institutions, including Diamond Offshore Drilling (NYSE:DO), Wenzhou Kean University based in Zhejiang Province, Fundação Dom Cabral Brazil (FDC), Council of American Ambassadors, Council of the Americas, and Christie’s Advisory Board for the Americas. Ambassador Sobel has received award recognition for contributions to bilateral relations from Brazil’s Ministry of Defense, as well as the State Governments of Minas Gerais, Pernambuco and Sergipe.
Cliff enjoys spending time with his 8 grand children, loves to ski and is an avid collector of Brazilian and American abstract expressionist; Vick Muniz, Antoni Giez, and Tunga are among his favorites.