Future of Defense: Big Data and Cyber Warfare | Liam Collins

Root of Conflict

What is the role of big data in modern-day conflict? How prepared are defense leaders in
interpreting data and effectively leveraging its use on the battlefield? How has cyber warfare
evolved over the past decade, and what lessons can we draw from the Russian example in
Crimea?
We attempt to address these questions in this episode of Root of Conflict, where Pearson Fellows
Sonnet Frisbie (MPP ‘21) and Haz Yano (MPP ‘20) interview Colonel (ret.) Liam Collins, the
Executive Director of the Madison Policy Forum and the Viola Foundation. COL (ret.) Collins is
a retired Army Special Forces Officer who previously served as the former Director of the
Combating Terrorism Center and the Modern War Institute at West Point.
Drawing on his vast professional experience (to include a stint as the executive officer for
General (ret.) John Abizaid when he was the Senior Defense advisor to Ukraine), COL Collins
shared his thoughts on how the defense community can adapt to take advantage of the
measurement revolution, and what to make of Russia’s innovative use of cyber and hybrid
warfare in Ukraine.
This podcast is partnered with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global
Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org.
Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast
Links to articles discussed in the episode:
“The Pitfalls and Possibilities of the Measurement Revolution for National Security,” War on the
Rocks - https://warontherocks.com/2020/01/the-pitfalls-and-possibilities-of-the-measurement-revolution-for-national-security/
“A New Eastern Front: What the US Army Must Learn from the War in Ukraine,” Association
of the US Army - https://www.ausa.org/articles/new-eastern-front-what-us-army-must-learn-war-ukraine