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100 Ideas for the first 100 days

Apr 6, 2021

#77: Address the Cyber Risks Posed by Nuclear Modernization

By: Erica Borghard What is the kernel of the issue? Several US presidents have identified nuclear modernization as a priority for defense policy. One aspect of nuclear modernization includes incorporating digital technologies across the legs of the nuclear triad (bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and submarines), as well as nuclear command, control, and communications systems (NC3). […]

In the News

Mar 31, 2021

Borghard in Russia Matters: Punitive response to SolarWinds would be misplaced, but cyber deterrence still matters

By Atlantic Council

On March 31, Erica Borghard published an article in Harvard Kennedy School’s Russia Matters on the appropriate response to the SolarWinds breach. She argues that a retaliatory option would be unwise, but that this does not mean that deterrence strategies are irrelevant for cyberspace. “A punitive response to SolarWinds is unwise because the available evidence […]

Cybersecurity United States and Canada

In the News

Mar 16, 2021

Borghard quoted in C4ISRNET: In a cyberattack disaster, DoD needs backup squad to fix networks, restart critical systems

By Atlantic Council

On March 16, Erica Borghard was quoted in an article in C4ISRNET about the need for a cyber reserve force. Borghard described the purpose of a cyber reserve force and how it might be organized. “With a growing number of cyber breaches, lawmakers and outside experts are pushing to increase the role of the National […]

Cybersecurity United States and Canada

Erica Borghard was a resident senior fellow with the New American Engagement Initiative at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, which aims to critically examine the core assumptions of American grand strategy and propose fresh, innovative ideas for US foreign policy. Erica’s own work addresses US grand strategy, with a particular focus on the strategic implications of emerging technologies; public-private partnerships and resilience; and covert action and proxy warfare.

Erica continues to serve as a senior director on the US Cyberspace Solarium Commission, a Congressional commission established to develop a comprehensive national strategy to defend the United States in cyberspace. Previously, Erica was an assistant professor in the Army Cyber Institute at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Prior to that, Erica was a Council on Foreign Relations international affairs fellow, with placement at JPMorgan Chase and US Cyber Command. Erica also served as an assistant professor and executive director of the Rupert H. Johnson Grand Strategy Program in the Department of Social Sciences at West Point.

Erica has published on topics ranging from grand strategy, cyber strategy and policy, coercion and military intervention, and international crisis bargaining. Her academic work has appeared in numerous journals, including American Political Science Review, Security Studies, Strategic Studies Quarterly, Orbis, The Cyber Defense Review, and Survival. Erica has also published opinion pieces in outlets such as The National Interest, Lawfare, War on the Rocks, NetPolitics, and The Washington Post. Erica’s co-edited book volume, US National Security Reform: Reassessing the National Security Act of 1947, explores the evolution of American grand strategy and offers policy recommendations for the contemporary environment. Erica’s co-authored book, Escalation Dynamics in Cyberspace, forthcoming in 2021 with the Bridging the Gap series at Oxford University Press, challenges the conventional wisdom about escalation risks in cyberspace. She is also currently editing a book volume on the research behind the Cyberspace Solarium Commission’s work, as well as writing her forthcoming book on proxy warfare.

Erica received her PhD in Political Science from Columbia University. She is a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations and an adjunct research fellow at the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University.