Cautioning Against Future Catastrophes

Published May 23, 2017 at 10:00 AM CDT

Can we prevent future cyber security threats? (World's Direction/Creative Commons via Flickr)

Former top White House counterterrorism adviser Richard Clarke joins us to talk Russia, cyber security, more threats headed our way – and what we can do to stop them.

Richard Clarke, the nation’s former counter terrorism czar, warned the White House about the grave threat posed by Al Qaeda before 9/11…and was ignored. Now he’s back with a new warning. In a new book he explains: experts he calls ‘Cassandras’ are sounding the alarm about a new host of existential threats from cyberattacks to climate change. And they’re getting ignored. This hour On Point, heeding warnings in a dangerous world. — Jessica Yellin

Guest

Richard Clarke, author of “Warnings: Finding Cassandras to Stop Catastrophes.” Former national counterterrorism coordinator on the White House National Security Council during Bill Clinton’s and George W. Bush’s administrations.

From The Reading List

ABC News: News analysis: 4 takeaways from the WannaCry cyberattack — “Whoever sent WannaCry into cyberspace may not have done it for the money. Thus far, they have collected relatively little money, far less than they have cost companies and governments. The attackers may have done it to teach us some lessons like the four points above. Do you think we will learn those lessons this time? Past experience suggests we will not.”

The Atlantic: ‘Our Readiness for a Terrorist Attack Is Dangerously Low’ — “President Donald Trump has made national security a centerpiece of his agenda, justifying policies ranging from a travel ban to close relations with Russia. But the United States is now more vulnerable to attack than it was before Trump took office, according to the man who served as George W. Bush’s crisis manager on 9/11.”

TIME: Inside Russia’s Social Media War on America — “For many Americans, Russian hacking remains a story about the 2016 election. But there is another story taking shape. Marrying a hundred years of expertise in influence operations to the new world of social media, Russia may finally have gained the ability it long sought but never fully achieved in the Cold War: to alter the course of events in the U.S. by manipulating public opinion.”

Read An Excerpt Of “Warnings” By Richard Clarke

Array