Online diplomacy
in a time of pandemic:
how to save connections?
in a time of pandemic:
how to save connections?
Alexey NaumovAlexey Naumov is a deputy chief of foreign desk at Kommersant, one of Russia's leading daily newspapers. Also he has been a part of Russia's foreign minister's press pool.- My most esteemed colleague Natalia Burlinova in her online seminar on April, 8th argued that public diplomacy will emerge from this crisis in a much less traditional and much more digital form. The fear of traveling will linger for quite some time, prompting people to opt for an online format.
But to understand the diplomacy at the times of coronavirus we have to see what it actually is busy with.
So, diplomacy has been busy doing three main things:
1) Getting people back home — though diplomats often have to work with their colleagues from their own governments;
2) Assisting other countries fighting the pandemic, generally outlining the procedures and leaving all the hard work for others;
3) And… blaming China for the pandemic;
4) Fight the accusations if you are happen to be China - a unique, but rather unrewarding option.
So, diplomacy has been mostly switched to passive mode, waiting for the storm to calm down. Natalia correctly outlined that intergovernmental structures are weakened, and nations are emboldened. But what are these nations focused at? That's right, fighting the pandemic. Do they care about international relations? No. Do they care about looming dangers requiring global solutions and acting in the face of danger, like climate change? No.
So, this plethora of wonderful technical solutions like Zoom meetings and online brainstorms are not new shining solutions paving the way for digital transformation — they are just things to use while we wait for the whole thing to end. The first reason I think why diplomacy will hurry to return to status quo is security. We've all seen these Zoom meetings getting infiltrated or porn-bombed by hackers. It gets even more troublesome when we realize these hackers could be hired and trained by foreign governments. The second reason is subtlety: diplomacy sometimes cannot function without secrecy. My favorite example is when representatives of the United States were meeting representatives of the North Vietnamese' government.
The talks were going on without any prospect of ever bringing about a working solution, until then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger began meeting his North Vietnamese counterparts Le Duc Tho, a member of Hanoi's Politburo, and Xuan Thuy, Hanoi's chief delegate to the formal Paris peace talks. The public was not informed. South Vietnam was not informed. Even American senators and representatives were not informed.
1) Getting people back home — though diplomats often have to work with their colleagues from their own governments;
2) Assisting other countries fighting the pandemic, generally outlining the procedures and leaving all the hard work for others;
3) And… blaming China for the pandemic;
4) Fight the accusations if you are happen to be China - a unique, but rather unrewarding option.
So, diplomacy has been mostly switched to passive mode, waiting for the storm to calm down. Natalia correctly outlined that intergovernmental structures are weakened, and nations are emboldened. But what are these nations focused at? That's right, fighting the pandemic. Do they care about international relations? No. Do they care about looming dangers requiring global solutions and acting in the face of danger, like climate change? No.
So, this plethora of wonderful technical solutions like Zoom meetings and online brainstorms are not new shining solutions paving the way for digital transformation — they are just things to use while we wait for the whole thing to end. The first reason I think why diplomacy will hurry to return to status quo is security. We've all seen these Zoom meetings getting infiltrated or porn-bombed by hackers. It gets even more troublesome when we realize these hackers could be hired and trained by foreign governments. The second reason is subtlety: diplomacy sometimes cannot function without secrecy. My favorite example is when representatives of the United States were meeting representatives of the North Vietnamese' government.
The talks were going on without any prospect of ever bringing about a working solution, until then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger began meeting his North Vietnamese counterparts Le Duc Tho, a member of Hanoi's Politburo, and Xuan Thuy, Hanoi's chief delegate to the formal Paris peace talks. The public was not informed. South Vietnam was not informed. Even American senators and representatives were not informed.
Henry Kissinger shakes hand with Le Duc Tho, leader of North Vietnam delegation, after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords on January 23, 1973. (AFP / GETTY IMAGES)
Let's get back to the Paris Peace Talks for a while: the negotiating sides spent ten weeks contemplating what table to choose and how much legitimacy would the Vietcong gain from being seen to have the same position as the government of sovereign South Vietnam.
The third reason for my antidigital crusade is customs of the diplomatic craft. Diplomacy is so much more than actually speaking or relaying information to your colleagues — public diplomacy even more so. Diplomacy is a very intricate process with numerous little details, sometimes even more important than the subject matter discussed. Let's get back to the Paris Peace Talks for a while: the negotiating sides spent ten weeks contemplating what table to choose and how much legitimacy would the Vietcong gain from being seen to have the same position as the government of sovereign South Vietnam. Among options considered were a square table, two rectangular tables, six variants of round table, an oval table, two semi-circular tables, one round table cut in half, flattened ellipse, broken diamond and a parallelogram.
The variant agreed upon was a round table (4.75 metres in diameter) with two rectangular tables (3 feet by 4.5 feet) alongside for secretaries. How do you translate that to a digital world? Should have the South Vietnamese asked the Vietcong to have a smaller icon in the Zoom meeting? I'm not buying that.
And also, there's a question of prestige. Firstly, you don't spend many years getting into the diplomatic corps to sit behind the computer screen — you have a lot of it during the preliminary phase before visits. Secondly, you want to show the hosts and the world how big your plane is, how large your delegation is, how posh you are. Remember that escort of 12 guardsmen running along Kim Jong Un's limousine in South Korea and Singapore? Can't have that online.
The variant agreed upon was a round table (4.75 metres in diameter) with two rectangular tables (3 feet by 4.5 feet) alongside for secretaries. How do you translate that to a digital world? Should have the South Vietnamese asked the Vietcong to have a smaller icon in the Zoom meeting? I'm not buying that.
And also, there's a question of prestige. Firstly, you don't spend many years getting into the diplomatic corps to sit behind the computer screen — you have a lot of it during the preliminary phase before visits. Secondly, you want to show the hosts and the world how big your plane is, how large your delegation is, how posh you are. Remember that escort of 12 guardsmen running along Kim Jong Un's limousine in South Korea and Singapore? Can't have that online.
Saudi King Salman receives the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at Al-Salam Palace in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, 2017. (Saudi Press Agency via AP)
And I argue that this applies to most diplomatic meetings. People will always want to go talk to other people and see other countries. Sometimes it's just about the host country — and I think I would be right to say Arab countries are particularly notorious about this kind of thing. Give you an example — we were traveling with Sergey Lavrov to one of the Gulf countries. Well, we were the journalists, laptop in hands, an occasional notebook and a pen, being used to be ready to move on a moment's notice, using scarce moments to put something down on paper, and so on. We, the journalists, are never the main course, so the host countries just have to acknowledge our existence, and, if fortune favors us, give us a coffee tank so we could get a caffeine shot we so desperately need.
Things were very different on that Gulf country visit — we were told that we're honorable guests of the king, all our expenses will be reimbursed, we had a tremendous meal and the right to use minibars in our hotel rooms which were provided free of charge. That is a crude attempt to win favor, but it's obvious that a country would have hated to forego this opportunity. The other example: we were planning a trip to one of Asia's more secluded countries, and one of their diplomats called our diplomat and inquired, what restrooms are the journalists planning to use, since restrooms of the Foreign Ministry were reserved for, you know, diplomats.
These differences help to reinforce the image of the country and no one would want to not have them. If you're invited to an overseas meeting, would you come? Would you return a favor and host your own meeting, or settle for a Zoom conference?
Things were very different on that Gulf country visit — we were told that we're honorable guests of the king, all our expenses will be reimbursed, we had a tremendous meal and the right to use minibars in our hotel rooms which were provided free of charge. That is a crude attempt to win favor, but it's obvious that a country would have hated to forego this opportunity. The other example: we were planning a trip to one of Asia's more secluded countries, and one of their diplomats called our diplomat and inquired, what restrooms are the journalists planning to use, since restrooms of the Foreign Ministry were reserved for, you know, diplomats.
These differences help to reinforce the image of the country and no one would want to not have them. If you're invited to an overseas meeting, would you come? Would you return a favor and host your own meeting, or settle for a Zoom conference?
Online public diplomacy is like a long-distance relationship: it sounds good on paper, but never really works in real life. Online conferences can help us keep in touch while we're apart, but they're no substitute for the real thing.
As far as public diplomacy goes, nothing helps to learn like visiting the said country. Speaking from personal experience, several years I was amazed to attend an expert session in the US Senate, see ordinary Americans coming there and understanding how open the government really is. You could have many online courses, meetings, lectures, virtual tours, but as far as understanding the country goes, nothing beats visiting it.
Diplomacy is about people. So as long as we can't replace people with digital Zoom portraits, it will be personal, and we will still be meeting. So, you've all attended the Meeting Russia course. Could you've said that you really met Russia without actually visiting the place? Online public diplomacy is like a long-distance relationship: it sounds good on paper, but never really works in real life. Online conferences can help us keep in touch while we're apart, but they're no substitute for the real thing.
So how do we save connections? We plan for the future when all of this is gone, having an occasional online conference here and there, and making grand plans for when we actually meet.
Diplomacy is about people. So as long as we can't replace people with digital Zoom portraits, it will be personal, and we will still be meeting. So, you've all attended the Meeting Russia course. Could you've said that you really met Russia without actually visiting the place? Online public diplomacy is like a long-distance relationship: it sounds good on paper, but never really works in real life. Online conferences can help us keep in touch while we're apart, but they're no substitute for the real thing.
So how do we save connections? We plan for the future when all of this is gone, having an occasional online conference here and there, and making grand plans for when we actually meet.
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