Christopher Bronk

Diplopedia imagined: Building state's diplomacy wiki

Considerable interest has been directed by the Obama Administration in harnessing Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis, social media and cloud computing to overhaul the business of government. Addressed here is the account of an enterprise wiki at the U.S. State Department. That wiki, Diplopedia is currently employed by the States employees to share subject matter knowledge related to the process of diplomacy. Contained herein is an account of how Diplopedia was conceived and became a functional system for knowledge sharing at the Department of State (DoS).

The Dark Side of Cyber Finance

Digital technology has created a new playing field for illicit financial transactions. Governments and industry will have to be as fast-moving and adaptable as the criminals and terrorists to meet the threat.

Hacking the Nation-State: Security, Information Technology and Policies of Assurance

ABSTRACT The transmission and storage of information in digital form coupled with the widespread proliferation of networked computers has created new issues for policy. An indispensable business tool and knowledge-sharing device, the networked computer is not without vulnerability, including the disruption of service and the theft, manipulation, and destruction of electronic data. This paper seeks to identify frame analysis of the security of information resources. Historical review of security issues presented by electronic communication since the inception of the telegraph is conducted so as to produce salient points for study regarding the security of more recently developed computer networks. The authors aim to inform the blossoming area of study falling under the label information security with a primer on the key pieces of what may be considered a theory of digital statecraft, drawing back to the nineteenth century.

Between War & Peace: Considering the Statecraft of Cyberspace

This chapter considers how cyber-enabled diplomacy may be undertaken by the United States. While much discussion over the past decade has been dedicated to the topic of cyber warfare, less has attention has been directed at the use of cyber instruments (IT, social media, the blogosphere, etc.) in diplomatic engagement. Considered and critiqued here is the international cyber strategy enunciated by the Obama Administration in May 2011, regarding cyber issues and how that strategy factors into U.S. diplomatic initiatives. Covered are the: (a) emergence of cyberspace as venue for diplomacy; (b) framing of the strategy; (c) coverage of major incidents for consideration; and (d) prescriptive elements for policy development under the heading of cyber statecraft.