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
Kevin Diau is an incoming Belfer Young Leader and MPA candidate at HKS. He was most recently the Head of Product & Strategy at ENGIE Energy Access Zambia, where his work focused on expanding access to clean energy and digital financial services in rural off-grid communities across Sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to that, he worked at a battery startup in San Francisco and also filmed a documentary exploring renewable energy on island grids across the South Pacific. Kevin is interested in learning how to grow and scale clean energy and climate-focused innovations to accelerate our transition to an equitable carbon-free future. Originally from Southern California, Kevin received a MS in Renewable Energy Engineering & Policy, BS in Earth Systems, and BA in International Relations from Stanford University.