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Digital tools have garnered substantial interest in the context of teaching and training in diplomatic practice. Tools such as video conferences, small online courses, and massive open online courses are changing the landscape of what is possible in the field. Conversations on digital tools for teaching diplomacy are important in order to keep diplomatic teaching and training up to date, offer the best possible experience for participants, and reach those that might have been excluded previously.

November 2019, when the film Bladerunner is set, came and went. How well did this film – made in 1982 – predict the future? Well, we don’t have androids (replicants) that think and look like us, and there are no flying cars (yet). But, technology has progressed greatly, what seemed like science fiction then – video calling for example – is now part of our everyday lives.

The spread of the new coronavirus is testing our globalised world.

The second edition of the course ‘Artificial Intelligence: Technology, Governance and Policy Frameworks’ offered by DiploFoundation took place from 4 October to 13 December 2019. One of the goals of the course was to combine sound theoretical knowledge with a hands-on approach. This was achieved by proposing practical exercises. An example was the final assignment, in which participants were given the choice to write a blog post on an AI-related topic. The authors of the best blog posts have been offered the opportunity to publish their texts.

‘The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.’

~ Morpheus to Neo, in The Matrix written and directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski, 1999

The European Commission’s plans for shaping Europe’s digital future, the interplay between health and digital technologies, and cybersecurity in international discussions were among the main digital policy trends in February 2020.

Optimising the interplay between natural and digital ecosystems; cybercrime resolution negotiations; and the increasing interest of regulators and banks in digital currencies were among the main digital policy trends in January 2020.

Two Caribbean nations, Guyana and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, currently hold important positions within the United Nations. At its plenary meeting on 22 November 2019, the Group of 77 (G77) at the United Nations – a coalition of 135 developing countries – and China elected Guyana, by acclamation without preconditions, to serve as its Chair for 2020. Jamaica held the same post in 1977 and 2005, Guyana in 1999, and Antigua and Barbuda in 2008.

Just as other aspects of our everyday lives have benefited significantly from the advancement of technology, so has our health. These advancements in technology not only provide us with tools to encourage us to monitor our health, but also help us stay healthy and prolong our life expectancy.

The US Department of State has announced its conclusion that requiring Anne Sacoolas to return to the UK to face a criminal charge would set a precedent that would weaken diplomatic law. However, a closer look at diplomatic law reveals that this claim does not hold up.