The Center for International Strategy, Technology, and Policy in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs hosted Dr. James Miller, the former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and current Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center. Dr. Miller spoke on “Deterrence as a Strategic Attack” and how it applies to nuclear and cyber deterrence.
Dr. Miller defined deterrence and explained that, "we don’t deter states, we deter decision makers.” When thinking about nuclear and cyber deterrence, it is important to think of the key leaders of these countries.
“We need to think about who they are. We need to think about what they value because that’s what we want to be able to hold at risk and we want to hold that risk in a credible way and we want to understand what they will view as proportional and disproportional.”
He explained that even when we understand the desired outcomes of these leaders, deterrence is not always guaranteed. Then went on to explain the failures of deterrence on the local, national and international level. Then discussed the current and future international environment, including missile defense, cyber defense and deterrence, and nuclear modernization. Following his presentation, Dr. Miller opened up the floor for discussion
Dr. Miller is a Senior Fellow in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs located in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Prior to the Belfer, he served as Under Secretary for policy from May 2012 to January 2012, where he advised Chuck Hagel and Leon Panetta on operations, policy and strategy.