NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) has published the 14th Tallinn Paper on Cyber Diplomacy: From Concept to Practice. The author George Christou provides an overview of how cyber diplomacy has evolved, its definition, how it has developed and how it has been performed in relation to critical issues of cyber security and cyber defence.
The paper concludes that the central debates and trends underscore the need for further government and governance adaptation to develop, integrate and constitute cyber diplomatic practices within the foreign policies of governments and ROs and towards the increasing importance of the role of cyber diplomats in times of war and peace whether related to preventative, cooperative, restrictive or reactive measures in response to the increased sophistication and complexity of incidents and the use of new technologies. It has also pointed to the need for cyber diplomacy to build coalitions and alliances to bridge the ideological gap that exists over important issues of cyber security.
The NATO CCDCOE’s Tallinn Papers are designed to inform strategic dialogue regarding cyber security within the Alliance and beyond. They address cyber security from a multidisciplinary perspective by examining a wide range of issues, including cyber threat assessment, domestic and international legal dilemmas, governance matters, assignment of roles and responsibilities for the cyber domain, the militarization of cyberspace, and technical. Focusing on the most pressing cyber security debates, the Tallinn Papers aim to support the creation of a legal and policy architecture that is responsive to the peculiar challenges of cyberspace. With their future-looking approach, they seek to raise awareness and to provoke the critical thinking that is required for well-informed decision-making on the political and strategic levels.
This publication is a product of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (the Centre). The expressions reflected are those of the author(s) alone; publication by the Centre should not be interpreted as endorsement thereof by the Centre, its Sponsoring Nations or NATO.