U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) participated in international forums and panel discussions on cybersecurity and transatlantic alliances last weekend.
He attended the Brussels Forum organized by the German Marshall Fund, a nonpartisan public policy think tank dedicated to promoting cooperation between North America and Europe. The Brussels Forum is an annual high-level meeting of U.S., European, and global political, corporate, and intellectual leaders. Green met with leaders of NATO, Taiwan, and several European nations.
Green tweeted, “I was able to join a great discussion in Brussels hosted by the @gmfus last weekend on election security. Watch a portion of our conversation below.”
I was able to join a great discussion in Brussels hosted by the @gmfus last weekend on election security. Watch a portion of our conversation below. pic.twitter.com/jbK2cOhLaX
— Rep. Mark Green (@RepMarkGreen) July 2, 2019
In his opening remarks at the panel, Green said, “You probably have all heard of the DIME model or paradigm of warfare. And you’ve also probably heard of the domains of war. We think of an attack, we think of a strike against a building, and you see people and you see the wounded. But with a cyberattack, you don’t see that. It’s a totally different domain. But what you can see is the economic impact or the information or diplomatic impact on a country. In the United States, one in five companies has lost IP, intellectual property to China. The economic impact on our nation is believed to be between 300 billion and $600 billion each year.”
On Friday, Green spoke to the Young Professionals Summit, composed of young leaders in government, think tanks, and business in Europe and the United States from over 20 countries. Green emphasized the need for alliances, especially the transatlantic alliance as the world moves from a unipolar to a bipolar world.
On Saturday, Green joined a panel discussion on cybersecurity featuring NATO’s Assistant Secretary General Antonio Missiroli and Daimler VP Eckart von Klaeden, also a former German Member of Parliament. Green specifically addressed the theft of intellectual property from China and its impact on the U.S. economy, and took questions on the U.S. treatment of Chinese technology companies like Huawei.
A complete video of the session is here. The transcript is available here.
Here is one excerpt of question posed to Green and his response.
I’m going to pick on congressman Green, especially with your background, with the night stalkers. You used to have a target and a way to take out the target. I have been listening, for a decade now it feels like two conversations about cyberattacks by non state actors or state actors and we don’t know what to do about it because we’re worried about escalation. What would you recommend that country do when a U.S. company is attacked?
Here is Green’s response:
There are lots of options out there. Lots of options out there. On one extreme the United States government could attack a state owned entity and release its IP on the open networks. The challenge to us is to create a mutually assured destruction situation with nuclear. Clearly they know that if they respond, we have a second strike capability and we can take them out, and that’s maintained peace in a nuclear world. We have to figure out the second strike capability with cyber. And I can just say the United States is leaning very far forward in that area. And my comment to the players in this arena, we see you and we’re engaged.
Security of voting networks was another topic. Video of Green’s comments is here.
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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.
Photo “Mark Green” by Brussels Forum.
