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An American marine does battle in cyberspace
From Iraq to Internet security, Nathaniel Fick’s latest mission is a sign of shifting geopolitics.
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Mr Nathaniel Fick hopes to persuade US allies to eschew Chinese tech and deter poorer countries from falling into Beijing’s digital orbit.
PHOTO: STATE.GOV
Gillian Tett
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Nathaniel Fick shot to fame when he was featured in Generation Kill, a bestseller about the Iraq war by Rolling Stone journalist Evan Wright. The book later spawned an HBO series and Mr Fick wrote his own award-winning memoir – One Bullet Away: The Making Of A Marine Officer – about serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
These days, Mr Fick, 46, is back on the public stage with a different mission. In 2022, the White House quietly appointed him its first-ever cyberspace ambassador. That put Mr Fick, who worked in cyber security after the Marines, in the role of championing America’s digital interests against countries such as China. He hopes, for example, to persuade US allies to eschew Chinese tech (like hardware manufactured by Huawei) and deter poorer countries from falling into Beijing’s digital orbit.
