Expert Related Publication Feeds

Significant Cyber Events

ian — Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

A list of significant cyber events since 2006.

Last modified on May 4, 2012.

Will America Defeat Itself? Ideas and National Power

ian — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

America was not a great power in the late nineteenth century. It was rich and thought highly of itself, but it had little international influence or respect. The line attributed to Bismarck, that God protects children, drunks, and the United States of America, was not meant as a compliment. Learn this line, because as a country we are on a path to return to our nineteenth-century status.

Critical Questions for 2012

ian — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

From international security and regional study to global challenges, CSIS experts will address many of the world's most difficult policy concerns and critical questions in 2012. To kick off the new year, we asked 25 of our scholars to identity what worries them most and what are the biggest opportunities in their respective areas of study.

Escape from Iraq and American Decline

sherry — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

A recent article put forward the idea that “U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq Marks the End of American Supremacy.” Leaving Iraq does nothing of the kind. If anything, it offers an opportunity to mend American power. What America will make of this opportunity is another matter.

China in Space: Implications of the Space Module Docking

ktimlin — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

This piece was orignially published in China - U.S. Focus on November 15, 2011

U.S. Policy on Economic Espionage

ktimlin — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

James A. Lewis on common misperceptions in U.S. policy towards economic espionage.

Rethinking Cybersecurity - A Comprehensive Approach

ktimlin — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0400

James A. Lewis gave a speech on September 12, 2011, at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Tokyo titled "Rethinking Cybersecurity - A Comprehensive Approach."

Selected Bibliography for Cyber Security

dzheng — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0400

This list is a work in progress that we update regularly as new reports are found and/or published. If you have suggestions for additions, send them to techpolicy@csis.org.

Cyber Attacks, Real or Imagined, and Cyber War

sherry — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Assorted “cyber attacks” have attracted much attention in the past few months. One headline in this genre recently proclaimed “Anonymous Declares War on Orlando.” This is wrong on so many levels that it almost defies analysis.

The Significance of the Frontier: Why Privacy and Cybersecurity Clash

ian — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The internet diminishes privacy. Perhaps it will ultimately destroy it. The effect of digital technology on an individual’s ability to control personal data raises serious concerns, but does disappearing privacy also mean the end of civil liberties? Not necessarily, and understanding how to preserve political liberties while privacy shrinks is an essential task for the digital future.

Technological Advancement: The Choice Before Us

ian — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Marshall Foch, commander of Allied Forces in World War I, is said to have remarked when he fi rst saw an airplane in 1911, that “airplanes are interesting toys, but of no military value.” Foch, like most others, did not recognize the destructive potential of the new technology or how it would change military and strategic calculations.

Does China's New J-20 Stealth Fighter Have American Technology?

ktimlin — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0500

China’s military sent a signal to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates when it unveiled its new J-20 stealth fighter rolling up and down a runway just before his visit. We do not actually know how stealthy the J-20 is, but aviation experts were generally surprised that China was able to develop this advanced an aircraft as quickly as it did.

Thresholds for Cyberwar

ian — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0400

There is a broad range of hostile or malicious action in cyberspace – crime, espionage, attacks, and political action. The identity of those who engage in these actions can be indeterminate, and these activities, at some level, often overlap. This does not justify, however, a similar blurring and imprecision in our discussions of cyber conflict.

Cross-Domain Deterrence and Credible Threats

dzheng — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0400

The concept of deterrence rests on a series of assumptions about how potential opponents recognize, interpret and react to threats of retaliation. The fundamental assumption is that a correct interpretation by opponents will lead them to reject certain courses of action as too risky or too expensive.

Earth Observation for Climate Change

ian — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Until this year, America’s civil space policies—and the budgets that derive from it—were shaped to a considerable degree by the political imperatives of the past and by the romantic fiction of spaceflight.

Cyber War and Competition in the China - U.S. Relationship

dzheng — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0400

These are remarks delivered at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations on May 13, 2010.

A Note on the Laws of War in Cyberspace

dzheng — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400

There is some disagreement as to whether we can apply the existing legal framework for warfare to cyber conflict or whether a new legal framework is needed. This debate conflates two separate issues: can the existing legal framework be applied to cyber conflict and is the existing framework adequate.

Government Open Source Policies

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400

This is the seventh update to the CSIS Open Source Policy survey. The survey tracks governmental policies on the use of open source software as reported in the press or other media.

Government Open Source Policies

ian — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Google and China

ian — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0400

China is feeling on top of the world these days. Peoples Daily recently ran an article with the headline “Collective Decision-making Eclipses Rowdy Democracy.” It is not hard to guess to whom “rowdy democracy” refers. There is more to this than China’s own growth.

The Electrical Grid as a Target for Cyber Attack

dzheng — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0400

The electrical power grid has gotten much attention in the last few yars as a potential target for cyber attack. This paper reviews the reasons why.

The Cyber War Has Not Begun

dzheng — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Expanded attention to cybersecurity is a good thing, but it seems that it is difficult to discuss this topic without exaggeration. We are not in a ‘cyber war’. War is the use of military force to attack another nation and damage or destroy its capability and will to resist. Cyber war would involve an effort by another nation or a politically motivated group to use

The "Korean" Cyber Attacks and Their Implications for Cyber Conflict

dzheng — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Topics discussed in the paper:

When does a cyber attack become an act of war?

Deterrence in cyberspace

Norms and thesholds

Political constraints on cyber attack

Non-state actors in cyberspace

Among the major points made by the paper:

Read My Tweet on Iran

jdunton — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Technology creates new sources of power. Network technologies diffuse power. New networking technologies erode traditional means of political control and create new kinds of politics. The effect can be immediate—as when Falun Gong supporters used e-mail to organize simultaneous demonstrations across China.

Cybersecurity Commission Comparison Chart

ian — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400

This chart compares the recommendations of the White House 60-day cyberspace policy review with the recommendations issued by the CSIS Cybersecurity Commission in their report Securing Cyberspace for the 44th Presidency.

Cybersecurity Policy Review Recommendations Comparison Chart

sherry — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Innovation and Cybersecurity Regulation

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400

The market has failed to secure cyberspace. A ten-year experiment in faith-based cybersecurity has proven this beyond question.

A new Federal approach to cybersecurity will fail if it does not elicit actions that the private sector will not otherwise perform.

The Iranian Satellite Launch

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Q1: Why did Iran launch a satellite?

A1: Spaceflight is a way to assert national power and independence. Iran is sending a signal to its neighbors and to the United States that it is the power in the region.

Securing Cyberspace for the 44th Presidency

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The CSIS Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency has released its final report, "Securing Cyberspace for the 44th Presidency." The Commission’s three major findings are:

FISA Redux

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The public debate over FISA in the U.S. has followed the same route as so many other public debates on hard topics: it’s been ill informed, driven by extreme views, shaped by partisanship rather than pragmatism and resulted in a second-best outcome that nobody likes. The whispering you hear is people beginning to ask if our government is too broken to work anymore.

Governments and Global Supply Chains

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Government policies and practices affect economic outcomes. Is government action (or inaction) an obstacle to global economic participation? Do governments provide the environment for the services and infrastructure needed to be competitive? The answers to these questions decide how much a country’s citizens and businesses can benefit from globalization. This means

Intellectual Property Protection

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Deep changes in the ways that people create ideas, goods, and wealth are reshaping the global economy. These changes make innovation—the creation of new goods and services—the center of economic activity.

Authentication 2.0

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Digital networks offer people new opportunities. Taking advantage of these opportunities, however, will depend on whether we can improve our ability to authenticate identity online. Weak authentication distorts social interactions, security, and business on the Net. Without better authentication, we may forgo many opportunities, and the Net will remain a place that holds consi

CCTV: Developing Privacy Best Practices

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

CCTV use can improve security in urban areas, public venues, and around critical infrastructure facilities. The benefits of CCTV use will increase as the technology improves if we do not create a regulatory environment that discourages innovation and use. Privacy guidelines must be flexible enough to accommodate next-generation systems and evolving technologies and should not restri

Five Years After 9/11

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

The 9/11 attacks propelled intelligence reform to center stage in American politics. September 11 was an immense failure for U.S. intelligence, prompting Congress and the executive branch to respond with initiatives that promise reinvention and, perhaps, revitalization.

Space and National Security

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Japan is facing major decisions regarding space and national security. The reason Japan needs to make this decision can be found in the larger context of global space and security activities. In this context, a decision to use satellites to improve national security would be logical. There are two reasons for this. First, the benefits to national security from space oper

Critical Questions: Domestic Surveillance, FISA, and Terrorism

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

The Bush administration entered office with the intent of restoring, in its view, executive branch authorities and presidential prerogatives. The attacks of September 11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq reinforced the notion that the president’s constitutional authority as commander in chief provided sweeping powers that were sufficient to authorize a range of actions for defense.

The U.S. Escalates its WTO Complaint against China

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0400

After two years of threats and four months of consultations, U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab has requested that the WTO establish a dispute resolution panel for its case against China over intellectual property rights. Specifically, the U.S.

Global Value Chain Self-Assessment Tool

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0400

CSIS has developed a self-assessment tool to measure government performance in a global economy. The tool’s 87 questions look at the government policies and services that determine how attractive and how efficient a country will be as a location for companies in a global supply chain. The questions, which we divided into six categories, range from how many days it takes to mov

Global Policies on Open Source Software

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0400

This is the fourth update to our Open Source Policies table. The attached table tracks explicit governmental policies concerning the use of open source software that have been publicly reported in the press or other media.

Cyber Attacks Explained

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0400

The small Baltic country of Estonia was the target of a series of cyber attacks in May 2007. These were "denial of service" attacks, where an attacker floods the target network with bogus messages, causing its servers (computers that serve as a hub in a network) to slow or shut down.

Building an Information Technology Industry in China

Tue, 08 May 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Government support, privatization, and a removal of barriers to foreign participation have been crucial for China's information technology (IT) success. But the degree and nature of this success can be easily misunderstood when China's performance is taken out of its global context.

China's Military Modernization

Tue, 01 May 2007 00:00:00 -0400

James Lewis, director and senior fellow of the Technology and Public Policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies considers the factors driving China’s military modernization and what that modernization means for the United States.

Authentication and Government-Issued Digital Credentials

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400

On April 24, 2007, James Lewis was a panelist at the Federal Trade Commission's public workshop, "Proof Positive: New Directions for ID Authentication." The topic of his panel was "Next Steps: Where Do We Go from Here?" More information about the workshop can be found read more

Foreign Influence on Software

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Globalization drives change. The immense economic transition that comes with globalization has brought an unprecedented prosperity to the world. The United States is among the chief beneficiaries. However, America and other countries have learned that with the benefits come new risks. Nations face different and unexpected threats to their safety.

Between the United States and China

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0500

That space is again seen as an area of tension and military competition should surprise no one. The first space programs were military and the military use continues to be a central element of human activity in space. This military aspect has become somewhat obscured, as civil and commercial programs receive greater public attention.

Much Smoke, No Fire

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0500

If the Americans of the 19th century behaved as many Americans do today, we would still be a nation of farmers, living somewhat like the Amish with their reliance on horses and hand power. This is because an exaggerated aversion to risk shapes discussion (from missile defense to free trade) in ways that the more confident America of the past could not have imagined.

A Tale of Two Centuries

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Why Can't the U.S. Have Its Own MI5?

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0400

London Bomb Plot: Better Tools for Defense, but Will We Use Them?

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0400