Smart Power: Diplomacy in a Transnational, Transactional, and Techno World

Diplomacy is vital to America. Yet diplomacy is increasingly confronted with challenges that neither force nor diplomacy by any single power or nation can manage or resolve, including transnational threats, climate impacts, pandemic preparedness, cybercrime and disinformation, and the future of “traditional” diplomacy and the rise of artificial intelligence. To consider how diplomacy has changed, and not changed, and what must change in the future, the Ambassador’s Forum will bring together a distinguished panel of diplomatic practitioners to share their experience and perspectives. Introduction: Academy President Ambassador Ronald Neumann will sketch out the continuing nature of diplomacy and outline the new world of technological and transnational challenges facing America’s diplomats. The panel will mainly focus on the role of diplomacy and what will remain constant as well as what must change to address an increasingly complex world. Control and Delegation: What is constant and what has changed: Our nation’s very first diplomatic experience involved negotiations that ended the American Revolution but which occurred almost without supervision. Modern negotiations see envoys on cell phones, messaging on WhatsApp, and being buffeted constantly by news from everywhere. With presidents and the White House calling the shots, what role remains for the diplomats? What has changed in style as well as substance? Ambassador David Satterfield will reflect on this. Diplomacy in a Transnational, Transactional, and Techno World: What must change: Technology both enables diplomacy and threatens it. What are the new technological frontiers where diplomacy plays a vital role (e.g., space, AI, climate, energy)? What are the new challenges from technology (e.g., cyber-attacks, AI, to disinformation)? What part can diplomacy play in safeguarding the nation from these threats, whether in negotiations for international standards or bilaterally with friends and enemies? What role does military coordination play in the diplomacy of the future? Ambassador Geffory Pyatt will deal with the lining of diplomacy with this world to the future. Diplomacy’s Next Generation: Why this matters more than ever: Where will the next generation of diplomats come from? What skills will they need? How different do they need to be from our current diplomats? In particular, what training and education must they bring with them or be given to prepare them for the tasks ahead? This discussion will be the task of Ambassador Rena Bitter. To view this event virtually, please visit: https://siiasiscovirtual.eventbrite.com