David Sanger

We live in a new era of constant cyber conflict, as nations use cyber sabotage, misinformation, and fear to gain advantage and exercise power. Everyone is a target, and ordinary Americans are often the collateral damage in a growing conflict among states. David Sanger, the author of “The Perfect Weapon” and executive producer of the HBO documentary of the same name, moves from the White House Situation Room to the dens of Chinese, Russian, North Korea, and Iranian hackers, to Silicon Valley’s boardrooms, as he uncovers a world coming face-to-face with the perils of the technological revolution. It is a conflict, Sanger explains, that the United States helped start when it began using cyberweapons against Iranian nuclear plants and North Korean missile launches. But now we find ourselves in a conflict we are uncertain how to control, as our adversaries not only exploit vulnerabilities in our hyper-connected nation but as we struggle to figure out how to deter these complex, short-of-war attacks. Drawing from David Sanger’s vast experience at the intersection of national security and cybersecurity, “The Perfect Weapon,” explores how the rise of cyberweapons has transformed geopolitics like nothing since the atomic bomb’s invention. From crippling infrastructure to sowing discord and doubt—cyber is now the weapon of choice for democracies, dictators, and terrorists.

For three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Americans believed that we were in a different world—one in which terrorism, climate change, viruses and disinformation were the primary threats to the country. They were partly right, but the past few years have demonstrated that the age of superpower conflict is back—this time with a vengeance. David Sanger takes a deep look at our twin confrontations with Russia and China, and why the struggle America finds itself in now is so much more complex than the Cold War ever was. In a world of technological interdependence, of cyber vulnerabilities and misinformation and disinformation that can circle the globe in seconds, the challenge is dramatically different than it was when the Berlin Wall fell. With examples that range from Beijing to Ukraine, David Sanger tells the story of a struggle that seems familiar, but is not.

As Joseph R. Biden Jr. settled into his office as the 46th President of the United States, he was immediately confronted with a huge agenda of interlocking crises: A devastating pandemic that has killed more Americans than died in combat in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined; an economic crisis that brought with it joblessness and inflation; a crisis of racial justice and a burgeoning climate catastrophe. Overarching them all, however, is a collapse in American influence around the world. These past few years of partisan division have caused allies and adversaries alike to question whether the United States remains the model for the rest of the world. And as doubts rise, China has raced to exploit the opportunity – investing across the globe, wiring it for 5G networks, and using its cash and prowess to help authoritarians retain control. But is this a temporary blip or a terminal decline? In this event, David Sanger offers his expert insight into the Biden Administration’s policies and takes on the question on every American’s mind: Can American strength abroad be rebuilt, starting by rebuilding at home?

Every war the United States has entered since 1941 has something in common: Twelve months before it broke out, there was no warning or real conception that within a year, the United States could once again be on the battlefield. Major cyber-attacks have taken us by surprise. So has a global pandemic and a war for Ukraine. David Sanger takes his audience on an hour long tour of the world's hotspots, and the conflicts few see coming. And he will remind the audience that while the world is unpredictable, it is not unmanageable. Resilience and preparation make the difference between successful national responses and failures.