Shane Harris “The New Cold War: Hackers, Drones and Cyber Spies” (February 23, 2012)
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The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library hosted Shane Harris on February 23, 2012 as he presented his lecture on The New Cold War: Hackers, Drones and Cyber Spies. Harris is the 2011 recipient of the Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prize for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense in the year 2010. Harris is Senior Writer for the Washingtonian Magazine and author of the critically acclaimed book "The Watchers: The Rise of America's Surveillance State". Prior to joining the Washingtonian, Harris was a staff correspondent for the National Journal and Government Executive Magazine.
Harris introduces The New Cold War by stating the premise that The War on Terror is over, starting with 9/11 and ending with the killing of Osama bin Laden but possibly earlier with Hurricane Katrina's devastation, and that the United States won. Those two data points serve as bookends for the central animating concept that drove so much of the U.S. National Security and Military policy. With President Barack Obama taking office, his White House quickly pivoted policy to a centrally themed Counter-Terrorism Strategy, which utilizes drones and Special Forces teams to hunt down terrorists and kill them. This strategy sends drones and Special Forces to go into remote places where we would not want to transport large numbers of troops to do so.
With the Global War on Terror shifting focus after the death of Osama bin Laden, Harris' believes his New Cold War has now arrived. Harris believes that in the years to come there are two parts to the New Cold War. The first is that military conflicts between nations or organized groups will take place in areas that have not been recognized as traditional battlefields. The second is that the military and/or groups will use weapons and technology that are relatively new to us, and that as they evolve will move beyond our control.
The battlefield where conflicts take place now includes cyberspace, which the Obama Administration views as a strategic domain. Countries and organizations are battling for control much like the military battles for control in the air, on land or on the sea. The Obama Administration is called to defend the internet for domestic and business use, which includes the use of military force. A perfect storm scenario is illustrated that is hackers could break into a banks online records and delete them, the economic impact would be felt throughout the nation and the ripple effect economic attack would be worse than those as a result of the attacks on 9/11. The Pentagon having worked on cyber-defense and monitoring for years, applies leverage and creates the Defense Industrial Base Initiative. The DIBI is a collection of large companies and the U.S. Government sharing information on internet attacks and cyber defenses so that everyone can collectively cooperate in defending the critical infrastructure of the country. Recently, reports have come out that have named China and Russia as the centers of where cyber-attacks have originated from against U.S. businesses and against infrastructure, with groups within China and Russia becoming the Iron Curtain against the West.
The weapon used in conflicts now includes drones. President Obama has launched more drone strikes in 2009 than President George W. Bush throughout his Presidency. Harris believes that in the next 10-20 years, drones will become capable to accomplish military actions without direction by human beings. In recent years, air assault weaponry has greatly improved from World War II. Currently, one plane with one pilot can now destroy 6 targets, and the pilots are not even in the plane, they are sitting at a computer thousands of miles away. The pilot will someday direct 6 planes for missions, with the drones having the capabilities to make decisions in swarms; they go on a mission and accomplish their goals without human direction.
Harris describes his view of the New Cold War that it will not take the place of warfare with troops, bombs and tanks, but it will define the National Security policy for the foreseeable future and that it is the new reality of our world.
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Gloss