The Undersea War

Elisabeth Braw's new book, The Undersea War, explores the underwater infrastructure that supports everyday life – and takes the reader beneath the waves to reveal a hidden conflict. In her remarks she will examine how the undersea cables transmit that nearly all the world's data while intercontinental pipelines carry two-thirds of the world's oil and gas, and discuss how decades of apparent calm, mysterious damage to cables has revealed a growing struggle for control beneath the waves. Ireland, which is a global cable junction but has weak national defence, is particularly exposed. Kyle Mattews, the Executive Director of the Montreal Institute for Global Security, will respond and reflect upon the risks facing transatlantic subsea cables in the North Atlantic. Elisabeth Braw is a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative in the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. Her work focuses on defence against gray-zone and hybrid threats as well as the intersection of geopolitics and the globalized economy. She leads the Transatlantic Security Initiative’s “Threats to the global maritime order” project. Braw is also a columnist with Foreign Policy and Politico Europe. Kyle Mathews is the Executive Director of the Montreal Institute for Global Security. His work focuses on international security, emerging technologies, and countering authoritarianism. He recently held the position of McConnell Professor of Practice at McGill University. He is a member of the Global Diplomacy Lab and the BMW Foundation’s Global Responsible Leaders network. He is currently a member of the Government of Canada’s Cross-cultural Roundtable on Security. He is a recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his work to advance human rights.