In this episode of POFA, we discuss the development and popularization of the Internet and cyberspace with Dr. Adam Segal.
The development and popularization of the Internet and cyberspace fundamentally changed the world. With information readily available at the click of a button, it was championed by many that the Internet would lead to the end of authoritarianism and the beginning of a global liberal order. Evidently, the reality is much different. Cyberspace has become an important tool of foreign policy for every state, from espionage to defense to hacking. Different states have regulated the Internet within their borders differently, producing an increasingly fragmented global Internet as opposed to the globally open one that was envisioned several years ago. So, in a world where cyberspace is weaponized and cybersecurity is of utmost importance to national security, how do states maintain national sovereignty? Is a global, open, and resilient Internet still a possibility or is it a pipe dream? Joining us today to discuss these questions and more is Dr. Adam Segal.
Adam Segal is the Ira A. Lipman chair in emerging technologies and national security and director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). An expert on security issues, technology development, and Chinese domestic and foreign policy, Segal was the project director for the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force reports Innovation and National Security: Keeping Our Edge and Defending an Open, Global, Secure, and Resilient Internet. His book The Hacked World Order: How Nations Fight, Trade, Maneuver, and Manipulate in the Digital Age (PublicAffairs, 2016) describes the increasingly contentious geopolitics of cyberspace. His work has appeared in the Financial Times, the New York Times, Foreign Policy, the Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs, among others. He currently writes for the blog, “Net Politics.”
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