Digital Diplomacy and Cyber Defence

Abstract Having emerged only two decades ago, the field of digital diplomacy and cyber defence is new relative to other aspects of statecraft. Governments did not prioritize cyber issues in foreign policy or national security until 2007, when Russian actors launched cyberattacks against Estonia’s financial and governmental systems. The attacks gave rise to the first international cyber crisis, elevating digital diplomacy and cyber defence to the top of international security agendas. Although today cyber ambassadors and policy officials are a common sight in the halls of diplomacy, they have achieved few notable accomplishments there. The only international treaty that specifically governs interstate cyber conduct is the Council of Europe’s ‘Cybercrime Convention’, but its scope does not cover strategic cyber activity. Laws and norms of responsible state conduct have been proposed but not widely adopted. Meanwhile, cyber threats to economic infrastructures, governmental systems, democratic elections, and public health data continue to grow in number and severity. This chapter traces the appearance, growth, and evolution of cyber issues in the world of diplomacy and international relations, examines divergent national perspectives on cyber defence priorities, explores successes and failures in institutional attempts to regulate interstate cyber conduct, analyses the enduring challenges that impede meaningful diplomatic agreement, reviews the emergence of nontraditional players in the security realm, and discusses possible pathways to achieve greater cooperation.