Editor's blog

Some 28 participants from 25 countries around the world attended and successfully completed the Introduction to Digital Policy and Diplomacy course, running from 25 March to 15 May 2019, in New York. This was the second session of this interactive blended learning course offered by the Geneva Internet Platform (GIP) and DiploFoundation in co-operation with the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in New York.

Populism is spreading. The global economy is more fragile. A trade war between the USA and China is under way. And tech companies are arousing growing angst. This is how The Economist has described the start of 2019.

With this event we asked: ‘What can sci-fi teach us about digital politics and its future?’ and brought together policy makers, diplomats, designers, writers, and other creative people.

The event ‘CyberMediation: The impact of digital technologies on the prevention and resolution of violent conflicts’ took place at the Palais des Nations within the context of the Geneva Peace Week. The moderator, Dr David Lanz (Co-Head of the swisspeace Mediation Program) briefly introduced the CyberMediation initiative. The initiative was launched in March 2018 by the United Nations Department of Political Affairs (UN DPA) in partnership with swisspeace, DiploFoundation, and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD).

Earlier this year, we were intrigued by the discovery of the oldest intact shipwreck ever found – a Greek vessel from about 400BCE – on the bottom of the Black Sea. Ships such as this one carried trade, and with it diplomatic relations, between the city-states of the ancient Hellenic world.

 
Diplo has launched a new initiative dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI). Diplo’s AI Lab is a multifaceted initiative that includes research and analysis on AI policy, capacity development in the field of AI and related areas, reports from main events and discussions on AI, analysis into the impact of AI on diplomacy, and much more.

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Prof. Jovan Kurbalija

DiploFoundation is proud to announce the appointment of Prof. Jovan Kurbalija to a High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, established by United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, on 12 July 2018.

On Friday, 23 June, Mexico, Malta, and Switzerland renewed their memorandum of understanding on diplomatic training. The original memorandum was signed in 2009 by the three countries and was renewed in 2013 and 2015.