This report was produced for the Abe Fellows Global Forum 2019 symposium on cyber challenges (Abe Global | Washington, DC), held September 5, 2019 in partnership with the Hudson Institute and the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership.
“Information” has become an integral part of our daily lives. We have all become accustomed to the use of apps that ease daily life, and rarely stop to think of the masses of big data that have made them so effective. At the same time, there are worries every time a government, or a company, or an internet server reports a breach of its databases, exposing the private data of millions of people. The worries about information extend from the most intimate personal concerns, to the grand strategies related to national security and defense. While governments have increasingly fine-grained tools for identifying and gathering information on individuals, at the same time, they struggle to defend their systems against attacks from rival powers. As states move to introduce new 5G technology, the commercial interests of tech companies have become entangled with nationalist interests of states, and legitimate concerns about cyber security. These issues are of particular concern in Japan as it prepares to host the Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Olympics; will current cyber security institutions be strong enough to protect such global events? Drawing on the research of Abe fellows the forum examined how these issues are discussed in the US, Japan, and other parts of Asia, and what new institutions have been developed to deal with the increasingly contentious world of information.
This report features the following short position papers submitted by our speakers, as well as a summary of their discussion, and Q+A session.
Comparing National Cyber Capabilities and Strategies of Japan, the US, and the UK by Dorothea LaChon Abraham, Information Systems, College of William and Mary | 2017 Abe Fellow
The Global Competition for Information Superiority by Patrick M. Cronin, Hudson Institute
Techno-Nationalism with Chinese and American Characteristics: Implications for Third Countries, A Canadian Take by Paul M. Evans, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia | 1997 Abe Fellow
Protect the Internet Core: A Case of Undersea Cables and Cyber Challenges: Perspectives from Japan by Motohiro Tsuchiya, Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University | 2000 Abe Fellow
