Foreign Policy publishes GPPi commentary on the Pentagon’s role in cyber-security
On December 5, GPPi Fellow Tim Maurer published a commentary on the website of Foreign Policy magazine in which he analyzes the increasing role of the US military in cyber-security. Over the past couple months, the Pentagon has assumed a larger role in defending American networks. In October, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced new rules of engagement for the Pentagon’s cyber operations. As James Lewis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies pointed out, “When it comes to cyber-security, the center of action just shifted.” Indeed, a few weeks ago, the Washington Post revealed that President Obama had signed a secret directive expanding the US military’s authority in cyberspace to include defense of non-military networks.
For Maurer, such expansion is a sign that the United States like other democracies is struggling to adapt to a world of transnational threats. Moreover, it risks eroding the fundamental distinction between the traditional roles of civilian and military forces in providing security. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 has restricted the deployment of American federal troops in the homeland since the end of Reconstruction. It enshrined the idea that police forces are responsible for security within US borders, while the military protects against threats beyond the country’s borders.
In the article, Maurer asks if and how the Posse Comitatus Act still applies in cyberspace and the environment of the 21st century. He argues that some of the issues that cyber-security entails affect core principles that have been a foundation of democracies for over 100 years. The Pentagon plays a crucial role, but as with any crisis in a democracy, using the military should always be a last resort and a temporary state.