On 2 and 3 October 2023, EU Cyber Direct and the School of Transnational Governance (EUI) gathered diplomats, non-governmental experts, and academics working in cyber diplomacy to rethink the dominant narrative and jointly look for out-of-the-box solutions to current challenges for the EU’s cyber diplomacy.
As the progressively confrontational nature of the international arena reverberates in cyberspace, there is the need to reflect upon the role of the EU’s and of its Member States’ diplomatic efforts in current equilibria vis-à-vis the Ukraine crisis, Sino-American relations and, more broadly, in response of the progressive politicisation of global cyber fora (e.g., UN processes).
Such challenges require a meticulously crafted integrated approach to security and foreign policy. As per last year’s discussion, the actions taken in the next two years will be decisive in shaping the equilibria of cyberspace in the decades to come. In this context, cyber diplomacy must be tailored to serve broader EU foreign policy objectives. It must be rendered part of a comprehensive approach that encompasses several progressively securitised areas, but also a cornerstone of the way we forge partnerships.
In this context, the EU needs to re-learn how to adopt a pre-eminent posture vis-a-vis the shifting geopolitical chessboard. To this end, the Union must seek to leverage its core strengths, such as its single market and regulatory power while upholding its value-based identity. With a variety of panel discussions and breakout sessions, the 5th edition of the annual cyber diplomacy retreat offered a platform to identify how EU cyber diplomacy can rise to meet the challenge.
Read on the School of Transnational Governance website
