Connections

Introduction

Significant changes in the global strategic landscape over the past two decades include the fall of the Iron Curtain and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, accelerated globalization, increasing reliance on digital information technologies in all aspects of life, the rise of China and India, global financial crises, the political revolutions of the Arab Spring, and the emergence of violent Islamist extremism as a key feature of the geopolitical landscape. Yet at the same time, many of the key dynamics of the international arena remain unchanged from twenty years ago, including the volatility and instability of the Middle East, the lack of development in most of Africa, the ever-increasing integration of the global economy, and the preeminence of the United States as an actor in global affairs, with other states, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and Russia also playing key roles.

Among all that has changed and all that remains the same, new issues have emerged, few of which merit consideration in isolation. Rather, the complex and interconnected nature of today’s international system demands analysis that accounts for the relationships between actors and issues and considers the multiplicity of effects that their interaction unavoidably creates. Two key features of the current strategic environment—the two that are the focus of this article—are the indispensability of information technology in all aspects of modern life and the continued significance of Russia as an actor on the global stage.

Driven by the growing dependence of modern society on digital technology and the vulnerability of digital systems to cyber threats, cybersecurity has emerged as a critical national security issue, spawning a growth industry that researches solutions to the technical, legal, and policy challenges of the day. At the same time, the United States and its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) contend with a Russian Federation that no longer poses the existential threat of the Soviet superpower era but still wields enough power to demand attention and to play the role of spoiler on many important global issues. The U.S. and NATO have repeatedly and publicly declared improved relations and increased cooperation with Russia to be top priorities, but that rhetoric has seldom translated to concrete improvement in their relationships or broad advancement across the agenda of critical topics. However, cybersecurity is an area of strategic importance where real progress is possible. The June 2013 announcement of a new U.S.–Russia bilateral agreement to work together on cybersecurity is an important symbolic first step in that direction, but the accord is modest, and should merely serve as a starting point for a longer-term and more extensive program of cooperation. More tangible improvement of U.S. and NATO relations with Russia is vital, given the interconnectedness of all three actors and their status as the three most important actors in modern European—and to some extent global—security affairs. Given Russia’s robust cyber capability (and demonstrated willingness to employ it), its longstanding quest for recognition as a leader in world affairs, and the public call to develop international norms for cyberspace, cybersecurity is a prime topic for U.S. and NATO engagement with Russia.