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
William Xue is a Master in Public Policy 2022 candidate and the vice president of the China Society at Harvard Kennedy School. Prior to HKS, he was an Investment Associate at Goldman Sachs based in Hong Kong, providing portfolio management and alternative investment advice to clients across the Asia Pacific region. His current research focuses on the investment of decarbonization technology such as carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS), the development of green infrastructure, and the potential strategic cooperation opportunity between the US and China on climate change-related issues.
Last Updated: Jun 28, 2021, 3:16pm