The overarching question imparting urgency to this exploration is: Can U.S.-Russian contention in cyberspace cause the two nuclear superpowers to stumble into war? In considering this question we were constantly reminded of recent comments by a prominent U.S. arms control expert: At least as dangerous as the risk of an actual cyberattack, he observed, is cyber operations’ “blurring of the line between peace and war.” Or, as Nye wrote, “in the cyber realm, the difference between a weapon and a non-weapon may come down to a single line of code, or simply the intent of a computer program’s user.”
Biography
Chris Li is a Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, where he focuses on U.S.-China relations, Asia-Pacific security, and technology competition. His research interests also include Chinese history and politics, Taiwan and cross-strait relations, and emerging technology. Previously at the Center, Chris was research assistant to Graham Allison in the Avoiding Great Power War Project and coordinator of the China Working Group. In that role, he also contributed to the China Cyber Policy Initiative and the Technology and Public Purpose Project, led by former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter.
Prior to joining Belfer, Chris was special assistant for life sciences strategy in the Office of the Provost at Harvard and worked in a molecular biology lab at Massachusetts General Hospital.
A proud native of New Jersey, Chris received his B.A. with high honors in biology from Harvard University and a M.A. in Global Affairs from Tsinghua University, where he was a Schwarzman Scholar.
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