On security, he said he believed the biggest threats were terrorism and cyber-attacks and these were being compounded by “regional geopolitical fissures that seem to be opening up at an alarming rate”.
Citing a cyber-attack on the South Korean banking system in early 2013, which North Korea denied carrying out, he said this was one example that could have sparked a much more adverse response.
“If that attack had been more severe, we simply don’t know how South Korea might have responded, and whether we could constrain that response,” Alexander said.