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Alison Szalwinski
Vice President of Research
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Space, Cyberspace, and Strategic Stability in the Asia-Pacific


NBR conducted a two-year project that examined emerging dynamics in space and cyberspace and their effects on strategic stability in the Asia-Pacific. By gathering key experts and officials from across the region to explore these issues, this project deepened understanding of the complex factors influencing strategic stability.

The Asia-Pacific’s increasing geopolitical importance and military significance is well recognized. Less understood, however, is how emerging, novel capabilities in space and cyberspace affect regional stability. These capabilities have the potential to dramatically influence regional nuclear and deterrence dynamics in unexpected ways. As regional actors grow increasingly capable in space and cyberspace, they will profoundly challenge U.S. defense policy and extended deterrence commitments and potentially threaten strategic stability in the Asia-Pacific.

Project Personnel

As Project Director, Roy Kamphausen (NBR) led the direction and scope of the initiative with the guidance of two Senior Advisors, Elbridge Colby (Center for a New American Security) and Bruce MacDonald (Johns Hopkins SAIS).

Participants in workshop dialogues included two groups of experts, one on space and one on cyber, who are influential in their respective communities from across the Asia-Pacific, including China, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States. In year one, these experts participated in workshop dialogues and contributed their knowledge to the project outcomes.

Activities and Deliverables

NBR organized two major dialogues each year with regional experts on space and cyber examining:

  • The importance of space and cyberspace for regional economies and national security strategies

  • How emerging space and cyberspace dynamics affect regional-deterrence calculations

  • How these dynamics could impact (intentionally or unintentionally) nuclear calculations and behavior in the region, and

  • The implications of these analyses for regional strategic stability

Following each dialogue, NBR experts produced a report that conveyed the dialogue’s findings and detailed policy implications and recommendations for the United States.