On the Use of Offensive Cyber Capabilities - Belfer Center for ...

Soft PowerThe U.S. must be able to project the second and third order effects ofconducting external operations in cyberspace. One critical example would be thesoft power implications for such operations. Specifically, most civilian globalperceptions of the Internet (especially in light of the Arab Awakening) focus onpeaceful uses. External cyber operations or other actions that may affect normalcyber activities, therefore, can adversely affect America’s soft power.A recent example of this is the Egyptian protesters’ reaction to the BayArea Transit Authority’s (BART) shut down of cell service in one of their stationsin August 2011. In anticipation of a protest at one of its stations, BART officialshalted cell service in order to minimize the gathering. Many Bay Area citizensviewed this as a limit on their right to peaceful assembly. Egyptian activists fromthe Tahrir Square demonstrations seemed to agree. They began voicing theirdisapproval by referencing BART in tweets as “MuBARTak.” 62 Likening BART’sactions to those of the deposed president reflects a certain loss of prestige abroad,signifying an erosion of soft power.In that vein, the U.S. must consider the implications for external cyberoperations in affecting perceptions of the U.S. abroad. A cyber action that isExecutionally or Strategically expedient may have second or third order effectsthat diminish American soft power.SystemicCyberspace is a unique domain where, unlike the domains of land, sea,air, and space, the very geography and “laws of physics” can change bydisconnecting systems or changing the protocol or code that operates cyberspace.62 (Hersh, 2011)39