Global Economies

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To read the full article in Kommersant, click here. 

Photo: "Sunny city" (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by Alexander Kozlov

Rauscher, along with McAfee’s Chief Technology Officer and Global Public Sector Vice President Phyllis Schneck and the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Director and Senior Fellow James Lewis, gave official statements and fielded questions from the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. They discussed a broad array of cybersecurity challenges, U.S.-Chinese bilateral relations in cyberspace and the prospects for regional and global cooperation.

“Malicious actors are taking advantage of a lack of cooperation in cyberspace,” Rauscher warned. “We just don’t have the tight coordination that we need.” He pointed out that EWI has already started promoting both better coordination and cooperation. Holding up the EWI reports on Fighting Spam to Build Trust and Priority International Communications, Rauscher focused on the need to take proactive measures, including implementing a new means of effective international communication in times of crisis.

In his full testimony, Rauscher drove home this point by using a metaphor to explain the state of cyberspace when an emergency situation arises. “We have too many people practiced in bailing water out of the boat and not enough capable of plugging holes,” he said. “But when there is water in the boat, and you are getting wet, it is hard to focus on long-term solutions. We need leadership to shift the focus.”

Rauscher also pointed out that, to a large extent, the major players in Asia complement each other’s strengths. “The United States is the leading innovator in cyberspace while China is the largest manufacturer of hardware systems, and India is a leading supplier of both software and networked services,” he noted. “Our mutual interdependence in cyberspace is profound.”

Rauscher stressed optimism in improving bilateral relations with China, “The benchmark [for success], really, is zero percent. These are really hard issues. If you look at what we’ve taken on, people aren’t trying to address them because they think they’re impossible.” With other countries, too, he argued, much more can be done to move beyond purely reactive measures.

Committee Chair Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) reiterated this point. “The U.S. must engage its allies around the world to promote the preservation of global network functionality, in addition to establishing confidence building measures that foster trust and reliability with nations,” he said. “Establishing some sort of norms, or principals, to guide actions in cyberspace that the Chinese can agree to will be incredibly difficult.” Chabot and the rest of the committee focused much of their attention on U.S.-China cyber relations.

Some Congressmen raised the issue of China’s domestic cyber policy, and its effect on U.S. cybersecurity. “We’re in the phase now where we need to persuade the Chinese to change their behavior,” Lewis responded. “We cannot coerce them, they’re too big a country, the only way you could coerce them is if you go to war, and that is in no one’s interest.”

The hearing covered more than just U.S.-China relations. It included the need for international cooperation in both the private and public sectors and the prospects for new multinational treaties, U.N. regimes and high-level international dialogue on sensitive issues.

In the discussion, Schneck said, “We [at McAfee] believe in global conversation. We need more conversation, and commend some of the recent efforts, like those in the UN. These forums, like [EWI’s annual cybersecurity summit] mentioned by Mr. Rauscher and others, are good starts to that global forum.”

Rauscher stressed that governments alone cannot deal with these problems. “Given its more intimate knowledge of technology design and development, this leadership will likely need to come from the private sector,” he concluded.

Click here to view video coverage of the testimony, on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs' website. 

To read Karl Rauscher's statement in full, please click here. 

“In no other area of security are the rules undefined,” McConnell said, making the point that without agreed-upon guidelines, critical infrastructure systems across the globe are at stake and financial and political stability are continually threatened. Discussions continued on ways that EWI, with its unique history of building trust between nations, can help make significant progress in fighting cyber crime and avoiding global misunderstandings and tensions. The European delegation emphasized the U.S.-EU alliance and hopes for improved cyber cooperation despite recent strains.

Participants stated that one of the main roadblocks to significant progress is the gap between the rapid pace of technology and the slow pace of policy approvals. One reason is that lack of familiarity with rapid technological advances often overwhelms and confuses uninformed policymakers. All agreed that there must be a bridge between these two arenas and that dialogue is a key component.

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Other panelists included Rolf Alter, director of Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; Hernando José Gómez, Colombian lead on U.S.- Colombia FTA Task Force; David Lorello, partner at Covington and Burlington; Elizabeth Morrissey, managing partner at Kleiman International; Scott Scherer, vice president at Boeing Capital Corporation; and David Torstensson, vice president at Pugatch Consilium. Patrick Kilbride, executive director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Americas Division and Coalition for the Rule of Law, moderated.  

The panel focused on how factors such as transparency, due process and predictability contribute to business investors’ confidence in government. Other topics discussed include the impact of weak or non-existent Rule of Law on economic growth and job creation, the assessment tools used by the business community to determine candidate markets, the regulations that guide corporate activities in a foreign marketplace, and case studies on how businesses can collaborate with other stakeholders to strengthen overall Rule of Law.

The lucrative panel discussion, as well as the broader business presence at the World Justice Forum, marked an important moment in the U.S. Chamber’s commitment to give business a voice in the broader Rule of Law dialogue. 

Click here to view the full participant list.

Click here to read updates from the Forum IV.  

Access the World Justice Project YouTube channel, here.

“Natural resource issues are rising on the agenda of traditional security actors,” Ferenz said. Pointing to recent commentaries by members of the U.S. military and intelligence communities on resource shocks as drivers of economic and political crises as well as of regional tensions, she added: “The three issues where there are clear disagreements between China and the U.S. are maritime security, trade and Tibet. All three of those have underlying resource conflicts attached to them.”

Groff made several key points concerning the increased role water will have in human security, emphasizing what he called “a crisis around governance” and highlighting the role the private sector can play when appropriate policies and accountability frameworks are in place. He also noted the increased awareness of the complex challenges facing water governance.

“A lot of our institutions have begun to realize that you don’t just think about water in terms of scarcity or in isolation,” Groff said, noting that this will require intensive policy dialogue with governments. “With nexus kinds of things, it’s harder to do the math around it, and it’s harder to make the case for the math.”

Kőrösi stressed the importance of building networks of cooperation within nations and between nations. He also highlighted some of the operational challenges, noting that there must be an exponential increase in the number of water experts in much of the developing world in order to head off a global disaster.

Roundtable participants, representing diverse organizations, offered expert perspectives from their fields. Annette Huber-Lee, until recently the director of the Asia Center at the Stockholm Environment Institute, made the point that scientists have to emerge from their silos to address these cross-cutting challenges. “The scientists studying water must confer with those studying energy, as we all know their findings and studies influence each other,” Huber-Lee said.

Panel members also offered concrete examples of areas in which progress has been made. Groff said that within the past decade the ADB has integrated climate-resilience in its infrastructure investments while regional energy cooperation has made strides in Asia.

Others pointed out that the pace of change is often the fastest at the local level where choosing the right terms of engagement can have a big impact. According to Mandy Ikert, director of the Water and Adaptation Initiative of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, cities are now more willing to work together to create an environment of global sharing. “In many cities it may not be politically favorable to talk about climate change, but you can re-brand it to things that make sense to them locally,” Ikert explained.

Her organization currently facilitates technology exchange between Beijing and New York City, as Beijing searches for a means to employ a zero-energy fresh water supply system.

“We have Beijing that is solely reliant on one remaining clear reservoir working now with New York to determine whether they can actually have-zero energy fresh water supply as New York does,” Ikert added. “There’s a lot of global sharing happening at the local level.”

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According to the article, finalists in the competition were honored at an awards gala in Dallas, on June 22. The finalists will continute to compete for national and international Entrepreneur Of The Year awards.

Of special note, Ernst & Young is also recognizing the Perots with the first Ernst & Young Family Business Award of Excellence.

Ross Perot Jr. ascribes much of his own success to the close guidance of his father. “He [Ross Perot] has instilled in me the entrepreneurial spirit and a very strong work ethic. But what I admire most about my father, day in and day out, is his leadership and courage,” he says.

Read more at D CEO.