Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

Biden Eyes Russia Retaliation After Meddling, Hacking Review

Thursday, April 8, 2021

Categories: ASCF News Emerging Threats

Comments: 0

Biden administration officials have completed an intelligence review of alleged Russian misdeeds such as election interference and the SolarWinds hack, setting the stage for the U.S to announce retaliatory actions soon, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Possible moves could involve sanctions and the expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in the U.S. under diplomatic cover, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. Senior officials were expected to meet Wednesday to discuss what steps to take.

One person familiar with the deliberations said the U.S. response would likely comprise several elements. That would include sanctions singling out people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as agencies linked to election interference.

The actions will be the outcome of the review President Joe Biden ordered on his first full day in office into four areas: Interference in the U.S. election, reports of Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, the SolarWinds attack and the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.

The administration announced sanctions against Russian officials over Navalny last month but had so far held off on action in the other three areas.

The decision on what to do could be the biggest foreign policy test of the early Biden presidency. But the tone of the U.S.-Russia relationship was already set when the president, in an interview with ABC News last month, nodded in agreement when asked if he thought Putin was a “killer.” Biden also warned that Putin “will pay a price” for alleged election meddling.

Biden’s approach to Russia marks a break with that of his predecessor, Donald Trump. While the U.S. escalated sanctions on Russia and expelled diplomats during Trump’s tenure, the president was loathe to personally criticize Putin and said more focus should be placed on China as a threat to U.S. national security.

Biden and his top aides will now have to weigh how hard to punish Russia while also seeking its help on priorities such as rejoining the Iran nuclear accord, restarting arms control talks and combating climate change.

In addition to sanctioning specific individuals, there could also be expulsions of diplomats as well as private talks with Russia laying out further actions the U.S. would be prepared to take. Those moves would be aimed at establishing effective deterrence against future cyber attacks such as the one that compromised popular software made by the Texas-based firm SolarWinds Corp. and infiltrated government agencies as well as private companies.

Photo: Alexei NavalnyPhotographer: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-07/biden-eyes-russia-retaliation-after-review-of-meddling-hacking

Comments

There are no comments yet. Be the first to add a comment by using the form below.