Tag Archive for: diplomacy

School of Diplomacy Welcomes New Faculty

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Dr. Brandon Valeriano

Dr. Brandon Valeriano

The School of Diplomacy is excited to welcome two new professors to join starting
for the Fall 2023 semester. Both Dr. Brandon Valeriano and Dr. Brendan Balestrieri
bring a surplus of experience in all matters of international relations, with a particular
emphasis on the role of the military and the importance of homeland security in the
world of diplomacy. The School looks forward to the continued opportunities to expand
student learning with our new professors.

Brendan Balestrieri, Ph.D. – Professor of Practice

Dr. Brendan Balestrieri will join the School of Diplomacy and International Relations
as a Professor of Practice starting Fall 2023. As a native of New York, he is excited
to be joining a school with an excellent reputation and moving a little closer to
home. For the past 18 years, Dr. Balestrieri has served as an officer in the United
States Army, stationed primarily in South Korea. With master’s degrees in International
Studies from Korea University and Public and Media Relations from Johns Hopkins University,
and his Ph.D. from Korea University, Dr. Balestrieri primarily researches the intersection
between the military, international relations, and policy.

As part of his new role, Dr. Balestrieri will help develop the new International and
Homeland Security B.S. program, focusing on a comparative approach. The course will
examine different approaches…

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Polish Growth Forecast Revised Down in 2022 – Modern Diplomacy

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Polish Growth Forecast Revised Down in 2022  Modern Diplomacy

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State’s Cyber Diplomacy Bureau Props Up Anti-Hacking Alliances

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The State Department’s new bureau focused on cyberspace is expected to elevate the issue’s place in international affairs as the U.S. looks to join forces with other nations to stem a rising tide of hacks.

The Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy will likely play a role in the White House’s enlistment of other countries to counter increasingly common and costly ransomware attacks, former government officials say. Cyber diplomats also could add to U.S. efforts to press Russia to take responsibility for ransomware groups that continue their attacks despite sanctions imposed by the Biden administration, they said.

Another item on the horizon is upcoming United Nations talks toward a cybercrime treaty. The talks are set to raise thorny issues for defining and exchanging information on allegedly criminal behavior online, said Duncan Hollis, a former State Department official who’s now a professor at Temple Law School.

“Those negotiations will require a pretty savvy diplomat,” Hollis said. He added that the talks are likely to draw a lot of attention as the U.S. and its allies confront countries like Russia and China that so far have objected to international cyber agreements.

A Senate-confirmed ambassador will lead the State Department bureau, with a purview over cybersecurity as well as economic and human rights issues related to the internet, according to an Oct. 25 briefing from agency spokesman Ned Price. Its structure and scope represent a step up from past iterations of the department’s work on cyber.

Beyond Security

The State Department installed its first cyber diplomat during the Obama administration. Under the Trump administration, the department started a cyber bureau narrowly focused on security.

The latest bureau’s aim is to prevent cyberattacks while protecting digital freedoms such as free speech online, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Oct. 27 remarks to the Foreign Service Institute. The bureau’s work also is planned to include other digital policy issues like promoting trusted telecommunications systems, according to a State Department spokesperson.

It’s significant that the planned bureau’s scope is broader than just cybersecurity,…

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The Right Way to Structure Cyber Diplomacy

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The modern State Department was forged in an era of global transformation. In the 1930s, the department had fewer than 2,000 personnel and, as one historian emphasized, it was a “placid” place that was comfortable with “lethargic diplomacy.” World War II revolutionized the department, which readily transformed itself to handle the demands of planning a new international order. Between 1940 and 1945, the department’s domestic staff levels tripled and its budget doubled.

Today, the State Department is once again confronting the challenge of how to organize itself to cope with new international challenges — not those of wartime, but ones created by rapid technological change. There are ongoing conversations about how the department should handle cyberspace policy, as well as concerns about emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, next generation telecommunications, hypersonics, biotechnology, space capabilities, autonomous vehicles, and many others.

 

 

As Ferial Ara Saeed recently emphasized, the department is not structured in a way that makes sense for addressing these matters. She is not alone in having this view, and others have also offered ideas for reform. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s proposal for a Bureau of Cyberspace Security and Emerging Technologies focused too narrowly on security, as Saeed correctly diagnoses. As an alternative, she proposes consolidating all technology policy issues under a new under secretary, who would report to the deputy secretary of state for management and resources.

The State Department should be restructured so that it can conduct effective cyber diplomacy, but establishing one bureau for all things technology-related is not the way to proceed. Conceptually, the core challenges for cyberspace policy are different from those related to emerging technology issues, and creating one all-encompassing bureau would generate multiple practical problems. Instead, the department should establish a Bureau of International Cyberspace Policy, as proposed in the Cyber Diplomacy Act. Consolidating cyberspace policy issues in a single bureau would provide greater coherence to overarching priorities…

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