To Understand the Future of Cyber Power, Look to the Past of Air Power

When Technological Fantasy Becomes Reality, Every Civilian Is a Target

Approximately 75 years ago, a new technology was married to warfare on a mass scale, and its impact spilled across continents, shaping the fighting of wars and international politics while raising a new set of terrifying fears about the future of the human race.

Anybody seeking to understand what war might look like in the cyber age should consider the disruptive force of air power and the revolution it wrought. One lasting lesson: War has the power to quickly transform our technological fantasies and anxieties into devastating, hard-to-control realities.

Even before the Wright Brothers launched at Kitty Hawk in 1903, …

By Matthew Dallek | March 29, 2017

The Cyber Age Demands a New Understanding of War—but We’d Better Hurry

Is It Too Late to Resist the Techno-Gods That Steal Data and Topple Skyscrapers?

By James Der Derian | March 29, 2017

It seems highly reckless to prod into flight Hegel’s Owl of Minerva—the goddess of wisdom and war—for an assessment of war in a cyber age that is barely 30 years …

Why Didn’t the U.S. React More Forcefully to the DNC Hacking?

Because We Haven't Yet Defined the Rules of Engagement in the Cyber Age

By Max Boot | March 29, 2017

Last year, Russian intelligence mounted an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the U.S. election. Russian hackers broke into the email of the Democratic National Committee and of John Podesta, …

Why It’s So Hard to Stop a Cyberattack—and Even Harder to Fight Back

Evasive Culprits and Unclear Intentions Risk Escalation and Retaliation

By Christopher S. Chivvis and Cynthia Dion-Schwarz | March 29, 2017

Imagine that the United States is hit by a cyberattack that takes down much of the U.S. financial infrastructure for several days. Internet sites of major banks are malfunctioning. ATMs …

Why Extreme Moderation Is the Vital Alternative to Political Polarization

Theorist Tzvetan Todorov's Passionate Pluralism Is More Relevant Now Than Ever

By Robert Zaretsky | March 20, 2017

Last month, the Bulgarian-French intellectual Tzvetan Todorov died. A scholar on the history of thought, his writings influenced fields as disparate as anthropology, literary criticism, and history. His death was, …

Jealous Gods, Angry Mobs, and the Struggle for Lasting Legitimacy

Even with Authority from the Almighty Above, Rulers Need Consensus from the People Below

By Alexander Maxwell | March 1, 2017

Even if political power sometimes comes from the barrel of a gun, any government is more effective if it enjoys popular acceptance. Today, governments usually claim a popular mandate from …

Berggruen Institute