Intelligence Agencies and the Military on Cyber Diplomacy

Diplomacy is not the prerogative of armed forces or intelligence agencies. However, with the inception of cyberspace, the media landscape has enlarged significantly and the thresholds, for a variety of actors, to engage in cyberspace have evaporated. After a time of uncertainty and diffusion, government agencies—including intelligence and armed forces cyber command—have now harnessed cyberspace. Their engagement, as part of cyber diplomacy, has not solely to broaden their task from informing strategic leaders to public diplomacy, but given the affordance of these agencies, their involvement in cyber diplomacy incorporates aspects of political warfare and deterrence.