Fifteen years into the era of "cyber warfare"
are we any closer to understanding the role a major cyberattack would play in international relations -- or to preventing one? Uniquely spanning disciplines and enriched by the insights of a leading practitioner, Rethinking Cyber Warfare provides a fresh understanding of the role that digital disruption plays in contemporary international security.
Focusing on the critical phenomenon of major cyberattacks against wired societies, the book reconsiders central tenets that shaped global powers' policies and explains what forces in the international system might durably restrain their use. Arming the reader with the key technological and historical context to make sense of cyberattacks, it explores how deterrence, international law, and normative taboos operate today to shape whether and how states think about causing this kind of disruption - and how soon those forces might combine to rethink those decisions entirely.
The result is a comprehensive look at one of the most pressing issues in international security that also illuminates a new pathway for managing one of its greatest sources of instability.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. R. David Edelman is Distinguished Fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Internet Policy Research Initiative (IPRI) holding appointments in MIT's Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab and the Center for International Studies, and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
He served for six years in the Obama White House, including as Special Assistant to the President for Economic & Technology Policy on the National Economic Council, Director for Cybersecurity / International Cyber Policy on the National Security Council, and Senior Advisor in the Office of Science & Technology Policy. He began his career at the State Department during the George W. Bush Administration, helping to found the Department’s Office of Cyber Affairs.
His insights and analysis have appeared in print in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Der Spiegel, Financial Times, The Economist, WIRED, Fast Company, Forbes, and Fortune, and in broadcast on NPR, CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, and MSNBC.
Edelman holds a bachelor's from Yale, and a master's and doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Clarendon Scholar. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Keynotes & Events
Edelman is a frequent keynote speaker for global audiences of all sizes and backgrounds, exclusively represented by The Leigh Bureau. Academics institutions and government practitioners are also welcome to inquire about a guest lecture or book talk.