Cyber and Tech Diplomacy “Move from the Periphery to the Center” of International Relations

Nate Fick serves as the inaugural U.S. Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy, leading the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (CDP, which was launched in 2022).  In this post: a look at the ongoing Cyber and Tech Diplomacy initiatives and operational successes of the CDP under Fick. 

Why is this Important?

• • Ambassador-at-Large for the CDP Fick is a “Friend of OODA” – including OODAcast conversations with OODA CEO Matt Devost – and we have supported, endorsed, and tracked his and his team’s efforts at the CDP since his appointment was announced in 2022.
  • Like everything, global diplomacy is experiencing digital disintermediation, including the requisite uncertainty and chaos born of a global poly-crisis and exponential technological disruption.
  • The establishment of the CDP in 2022 dovetailed with the 2X exponential growth of global AI and its still uncertain economic and societal impacts  – since the dawn of OpenAI’s ChatGPT – on international relations and the future of global AI governance efforts.  The State Department, Ambassador Fick, and the CDP were well positioned to play a leadership role – and they have done just that for the last two years.
  • Fick recently briefed journalists on U.S. priorities at the United Nations General Assembly, including:
    • Countering spyware;
    • AI for sustainable development; and
    • Protecting and expanding undersea cable networks.
  • Fick’s strategic perspective on what has been coined “Cyber Diplomacy”:
    • “Technology issues are woven into nearly every aspect of our bilateral, multilateral and functional diplomacy, from economic growth to human rights to issues of military force.”
    • “…strategy leads with digital solidarity as a necessary framework because nobody can address these issues alone.”
    • “Digital solidarity is the willingness to work together on shared goals, to strive for aligned regulations and standards, to help partners build capacity, and to provide mutual support. We need to do that among states, of course, but also with companies and civil society organizations in a true multi-stakeholder partnership.”

2022 – 2024:  The Department of State’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (CDP)

The Record | America’s cyber ambassador on how to spend $50 million in foreign aid

Congress gave America’s first cyber ambassador tens of millions of dollars to help other countries respond to hacks and expand secure internet access, and he has a grand vision for how to spend it. The government funding bill that President Joe Biden signed in late March included $50 million for the State Department’s Cyberspace, Digital Connectivity and Related Technologies Fund, which lawmakers created in December.