Required #11(Late)- CSIS Readings

This week we were responsible for reading the articles sent to us by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The readings included the Department of Defense Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace, Whitehouse Cyberspace Policy Review, Significance of the Frontier: Why Privacy and Cybersecurity Clash, and the Global Forecast 2011. CSIS sent these particular readings to prepare us for the trip to Washington D.C. later in the semester. The first three readings prepared us for the simulation we would partake in, while the Global Forecast 2011 gave us a better idea of what areas CSIS covers.

Defense Spending and Deficit Reductions:  Funding the Future article from the Global Forecast 2011 generated the most discussion of all the articles. In Defense Spending and Deficit Reductions, David Berteau argued that the Department of Defense needed to take significant cuts as part of the budget crisis negotiations. When reading the article, I felt that the author did not fully consider the implications slashing the Defense budget would have on the United States Military. History has shown that slashing the military budget without a concern for the size of future forces does not work. Following the First Gulf War, the United States began cutting the military budget and shrinking the size of the Armed Forces. When the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq started the United States suddenly found itself too small of a force. 

In class, I tried to argue that it would take ten to fifteen years to realize the full effects of shrinking the size of the military. Unlike Corporate America, you cannot hire somebody off the street to fulfill middle management needs. The structure of the American Armed Forces requires that you spend 5-10 years in the military before you reach the ranks of Field grade officers and non-commissioned officers. I argued that the military should have a larger role in how the Department of Defense is affected by the budget crises to help prevent these future concerns.

Cyber security dominated the remaining discussion the rest of the week as we analyzed the various cyber security readings from CSIS. Throughout our discussions, constantly I found myself internally debating the role of the government in protecting "Cyberspace." Should the government be responsible for the protection of the Internet or should the free-market take that role? Throughout these internal debates, I kept thinking back to recent news, but these events only made the situation murkier. Recent efforts by groups like Anonymous and Lulz Sec demonstrated the need for the Federal Government to improve defenses to protect critical infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Stop Online Piracy Act introduced in Congress is nothing more than the Entertainment industry's wet dream. The bill does nothing to protect critical infrastructure and only works to try to save the Entertainment industry from themselves by radically enforcing antique operating methods.

In the end, cyber security remains a tricky balancing system between the free-market and governmental intervention. Ideally, the Government would create methods to protect critical governmental infrastructure while leaving the rest to the free-market. Unfortunately, the Entertainment industry will remain a constant thorn in the achievement a rational cyber security policy. For them, protecting antiquated models is more important than protecting our critical infrastructure from hackers.