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
Matthew Hartwell is an Associate with the Project on Managing the Atom at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He is a Ph.D. candidate in International Relations at the American University's School of International Service and a research associate at the Center for Security, Innovation, and New Technology. Matthew's doctoral research examines the role of population vulnerability in U.S. nuclear strategy throughout the Cold War. His broader research interests include deterrence theory, emerging military technology, arms control, and the domestic sources of U.S. foreign policy.
Last Updated: Sep 19, 2023, 11:40am