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
Priyank Lathwal is a former Associate and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Belfer Center in the Environment and Natural Resources Program and the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, where his research focused on decarbonizing freight transportation and was supported by the National Science Foundation. He also completed an M.S. in Management Science & Engineering from Columbia University, where he was an International Fellow at the School of International and Public Affairs. His current research focuses on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions from energy use while exploring climate and environmental justice issues, particularly in the United States, China, and India.
Last Updated: