December 23 - The Ethics of Cyber Warfare; The Annual Report From the Committee to Protect Journalists; A Real Threat to Hillary Clinton

Full Program

Part 1

We  begin with the Internet wars going on between the United States and North Korea following the hacking of Sony by North Korea that the president described as cyber-vandalism while vowing to retaliate with a proportional response. We will examine the ethical issues involved with military cyber attacks on civilian targets and since so far cyber attacks have been bloodless without the loss of life, we will assess how this new form of warfare fits into the current definitions and laws of war. Fritz Allhoff, a Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Western Michigan University and author of “Binary Bullets: The Ethics of Cyber Warfare” joins us to discuss this largely hidden new military frontier while on the civilian front, tens of thousands of cyber attacks happen every.

Part 2

Then we examine the new report from the Committee to Protect Journalists that finds international journalists were killed at a higher rate in 2014, with the Middle East the most dangerous region. Carlos Lauria, the Senior Americas Program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists joins us to discuss the new CPJ annual report that documents almost half of the journalists killed in 2014 died in the Middle East while more than 40% of journalists killed were targeted for murder with 31% reporting that they received prior death threats. We will also look at the worst jailers of journalists, China and Iran, with Egypt and Turkey playing catch-up.

Part 3

Then finally we discuss the new candidate entering the 2016 presidential race on the Democratic side, in a field that appears to be dominated by Hillary Clinton, and that is the former Virginia Senator Jim Webb. Jacob Heilbrunn, a Senior Editor at the National Interest joins us to discuss his op-ed at The New York Times “The Real Threat to Hillary Clinton: Jim Webb” and the unlikely challenge by Elizabeth Warren compared to the formidable potential of a Jim Webb candidacy.