Diplomacy, Power & Security, Technology Watch Now: Defending Cyberspace Through Diplomacy

Last month, a major cyber attack – one of the largest in U.S. history – hit the computer systems of hundreds of hospitals amid a pandemic. As healthcare, elections, and critical infrastructure have become increasingly digitized, attacks against them, and against governments, have moved into the cyber realm as well.

To help address these issues, a new field of “cyber diplomacy” has emerged, and Estonian Ambassador Heli Tiirmaa-Klaar is working at its cutting edge. How can diplomacy and global governance address these new and emerging threats? How does international law apply in cyberspace and what new norms can help guide state behavior?

As the United States and countries around the world try to modernize government technical expertise and infrastructure to meet the demands of the digital age, what lessons can be learned from Estonia’s experiences?

This edition of The World Today featured Estonia’s Ambassador-at Large for Cyber Diplomacy, Heli Tiirmaa-Klaar, in conversation with Temple University Laurel H. Carnell Professor of Law, Duncan Hollis, a leading expert in the development of international law and norms in cyberspace.