Cyber Command’s Strategy Risks Friction With Allies
Author(s): Max Smeets
Publisher(s): Lawfare
Publication Year: 2020
Although the debates on the fundamental changes in US cyber strategy from “persistent engagement” to “defend forward” are worth continuing, a key dimension might be overlooked. In this blog, CSS senior researcher Max Smeets explores how the strategy’s implications may not reside in how it changes the dynamics between the US and its adversaries, but instead in how it affects broader alliance relationships. The US Cyber Command’s mission to cause friction in adversaries’ freedom of maneuver in cyberspace may end up causing significant friction in allies’ trust and confidence—and adversaries may be able to exploit that.