Activities

Since its founding in 1995, the Virtual Diplomacy Initiative has engaged in several special projects and sponsored numerous workshops, conferences, and symposia on the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and diplomacy. Below is a chronological listing of major activities sponsored by the Virtual Diplomacy Initiative along with notations on additional resources available online. Some of the results of these activities are also featured in Virtual Diplomacy publications.

2004

Achieving Peace in Liberia
Virtual Diplomacy Lecture Series - February 2004

On February 9 the Institute hosted a special Virtual Town Hall Meeting featuring Gyude Bryant, chairman of the National Transitional Government of Liberia.

Back to Top

2003

Towards Interoperability in Crisis Management
Conference (Cosponsor) - September 2003

A September 2003 conference co-hosted with the Helsinki-based Crisis Management Initiative will explore practical steps toward improving information sharing, coordination, and cooperation from headquarters to the field, and among the various organizations responding to humanitarian crises.

Agenda and Background Papers Available

Back to Top

2002

A Balancing Act: The Role of the Fourth Estate in New Democracies
Virtual Diplomacy Workshop - January 2002

Led by former CNN anchor and Virtual Diplomacy Advisory Board member Ralph Begleiter, veteran journalists Veran Matic and Andrei Sitov examined the competing demands on media as they try to strike the balance between watchdog and participant in the reform process from an "on the ground" perspective. This presentation was webcast live and followed by questions from the floor and the Internet.

Audio Available Online

Back to Top

2001

Information Sharing in Complex Emergencies
Virtual Diplomacy Meeting - December 2001

On December 4, 2001, the Virtual Diplomacy Initiative hosted an inaugural meeting of the Center for Humanitarian Cooperation (CHC), with creator Roy Williams, long-time VDI advisor and former director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) of the U.S. Agency for International Development. CHC is a not-for-profit organization established to assist the international humanitarian community in developing models for greater cooperation.

Humanitarian Cooperation
Virtual Diplomacy Meeting - September 2001

On September 14, 2001, the first advisory meeting of the Good Practices Project reviewed progress made to date in researching case studies of information-sharing structures in complex emergencies, and established priorities for 2001-2002.

Good Practices: Information Sharing in Complex Emergencies
Virtual Diplomacy Conference (Cosponsor) - June 2001

With the office of the assistant Secretary of defense for special operations and low intensity conflict (SOLIC), VDI cosponsored the Worldwide Civil Affairs conference in NYC on June 28-30, 2001. This conference initiated a new, bold discussion of civil affairs doctrine in peacekeeping operations. The Institute organized a session featuring international humanitarian experts responding to the question of how civil affairs could help enhance security for relief operations and increasingly, for personal security, through improved information sharing in the field.

Tampere Conference on Disaster Communications
Virtual Diplomacy Presentation - May 2001

During the Second Tampere Conference on Disaster Communications in late May 28-30, 2001 in Finland, VDI Co-Director Sheryl Brown reviewed U.S. Institute of Peace efforts in promoting information sharing in complex emergencies.

Presentation Available Online

Sizing up the Fourth Estate in Bosnia
Virtual Diplomacy Workshop - May 2001

On May 15, 2001, Bosnian journalists Senad Pecanin from Dani magazine and Natasa Tesanovic from ATV Banja Luka in a special brown-bag roundtable, Sizing up the Fourth Estate in Bosnia, graded efforts by regional media, politicians, and the international community in fostering an authentically independent press in Bosnia.

Goodenough-Chevening Conference
Virtual Diplomacy Presentation - May 2001

Sheryl Brown, co-director of the Virtual Diplomacy Initiative, spoke about the initiative's support of Internet use in empowerment and reconciliation activities as part of the U.S. Institute of Peace's work in the Balkans at the May 3, 2001 Goodenough-Chevening Conference in London.

Information Technology and the Practice of Diplomacy
Virtual Diplomacy Presentation - April 2001

At the Information Technology and the Practice of Diplomacy conference held at the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs in April 20, 2001, U.S. Institute of Peace President Richard H. Solomon moderated a panel that considered the impact of information and communications technologies on public diplomacy.

Information Age Diplomacy
Virtual Diplomacy Presentation - April 2001

U.S. Institute of Peace President Richard H. Solomon spoke about the context for State Department reform and the future of diplomacy at the Information Age Diplomacy Symposium organized by the National Defense University, Fort McNair, on April 6, 2001.

Back to Top

2000

Mitigating the South China Sea Disputes Through Cooperative Monitoring: Conflict Prevention in the Age of Global Transparency
Virtual Diplomacy Workshop - December 2000

A December 12, 2000 workshop jointly organized by the U.S. Institute of Peace's Virtual Diplomacy Initiative and the Research and Studies Program, assessed opportunities for reducing the risks of armed conflict over the disputed Spratly Islands through the use of cooperative monitoring utilizing high-resolution commercial observation satellites.

Audio & Video Available Online

Kosovar Albanian and Serb Internet Assistance
Virtual Diplomacy Special Project - November 1997

In collaboration with the U.S. Institute of Peace's Balkans Initiative, in 2000-2001, the Virtual Diplomacy Initiative arranged Internet training, troubleshooting and support for forty Kosovo Albanian and Serb community leaders who in the July 2000 "Airlie Declaration Against Violence" had agreed upon joint steps towards a better future for Kosovo.

"News" versus "Snooze" How the Media Covers International Crises & Conflict
Virtual Diplomacy Workshop - May 2000

Led by former Institute Senior Fellow and Deputy Foreign Affairs Editor for Knight Ridder Newspapers Joyce Davis, a panel of current and former journalists examined the challenges of selecting which international crises and conflicts merit coverage and why.

Taking it to the Next Level: Civil Military Cooperation in Complex Emergencies
Virtual Diplomacy Conference (Cosponsor) - April 2000

The Virtual Diplomacy Initiative supported the participation of representatives from international non-governmental organizations at a conference co-sponsored with the 353rd Civil Affairs Command on civilian-military cooperation in complex emergencies, April 6-9, 2000 in San Antonio, Texas. The purpose of the conference was to facilitate the development of information-sharing mechanisms that support advance planning and implementation by international entities involved in complex emergencies (See concept paper ). The conference participants were divided into two separate working groups, one focusing on advance planning and the other on implementation.

Concept Paper Available Online

Partners or Partisans? NATO and the Media in Kosovo
Virtual Diplomacy Workshop - April 2000

Held as part of the Institute's Media & Conflict Series, the discussion featured NATO Spokesman Jamie Shea and a panel of distinguished journalists examining the continuing challenges to governments and international organizations posed by global real-time media.

Audio & Video Available Online

Back to Top

1999

The GIS Edge in Post-Conflict Rebuilding
Virtual Diplomacy Workshop - November 1999

Held in November 1999, the session examined how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have supported elections, refugee resettlement, land distribution, and resources management.

Audio Available Online

Open Eyes 99 Remote-Sensing Operations in Humanitarian Emergencies
Virtual Diplomacy Conference - April 1999

In April 1999, the Institute hosted "Open Eyes 99," a meeting designed to continue promoting data-sharing and collaboration between UN agencies, nongovernmental organizations, U.S. government agencies, and private enterprises in humanitarian operations, with a particular emphasis on using remote-sensing and geographical information systems applications.

Papers and Proceedings Available Online

Managing Information Chaos
Virtual Diplomacy Workshop - March 1999

A March 1999 workshop, "Managing Information Chaos", explored how a primary aspect of the Information Age-real-time and open-source information access and global communications-is complicating not only decision making processes among international affairs practitioners but such fundamental activities as discerning valuable from useless, misleading, or deliberately distorted information.

Papers and Proceedings Available Online

Revolution in Diplomatic Affairs: Theory and Practice
Virtual Diplomacy Workshop - February 1999

The Virtual Diplomacy Initiative organized two panel discussions during the International Studies Association Annual Conference in February 1999 in Washington, D.C. The panels considered the theory and the practice, respectively, supporting a "Revolution in Diplomatic Affairs," a concept derived from the 1997 Virtual Diplomacy conference. Most of the papers presented at the panels have been published as monographs in the Virtual Diplomacy Series (see VDS#'s; 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

Papers and Proceedings Available Online

Preserving the Free Flow of Information on the Internet: Serbs Thwart Milosevic's Censorship, Round Two
Current Issues Briefing - January 1999

A Current Issues Briefing, the event addressed the challenges and role of independent media, including the Internet, in democracy; the numerous legal and extralegal restrictions imposed by the regime of Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milosevic on freedom of expression in Serbia; and responses to various attempts to curtail the operations of OpenNet, Radio B92's Internet site. OpenNet was the first Internet service provider and until early 1996, the only one in Serbia.

Papers and Proceedings Available Online

Back to Top

1997

ICTs and Expanding the Capacity of the Legal System in Rwanda
Virtual Diplomacy Workshop - December 1997

A 1997 seminar, the event explored the use of ICTs to expand the capacity of the legal system in Rwanda and identified the following as critical needs: trilingual web site on Rwandan law, distance-learning program in law, dissemination of court decisions the country, information sharing and networking between relevant institutions and organizations country-wide, and global access to expert legal consultation.

Overview Available Online

RADARSAT Team
Virtual Diplomacy Special Project - November 1997

In November 1997, the Institute formed a "virtual team" composed of members of 19 organizations on three continents to analyze flood damage in Juba and Shabelle river watershed using GIS with data from Canada's RADARSAT.

Broadcasting to People in Conflict: the Role of Radio in Conflicts and Conflict Resolution
Virtual Diplomacy Conference - October 1997

As part of the its Media and Conflict Project, in 1997, the Institute, with the co-sponsorship of Voice of America, organized a special conference that highlighted the potential use of radio broadcasts enhanced by satellite communications and the Internet to stem, moderate, and reconcile civil and international violence.

Overview Available Online

Virtual Diplomacy: The Global Communications Revolution and International Conflict Management
Virtual Diplomacy Conference - April 1997

Held in April 1997, the event considered the impact of ICTs on nation-states, global relations, and international conflict. Speakers included Walter Wriston, George Shultz, Ismail Serageldin, Francis Fukuyama, Arno Penzias, Robert Kahn, John Gage, David Gergen, and nearly 1,000 participants discussed the effect of tools that collect, process, transmit and/or represent data for decisionmaking and action; networks, partnerships, and communities for information exchange and resource sharing; and means for integrating ICTs into the practice of diplomacy. An exhibit hall featured products that showcased the far-reaching effects of ICTs in international relations.

Papers and Proceedings Available Online

Back to Top

1996

Managing Communications: Lessons from Interventions in Africa
Virtual Diplomacy Conference - June 1996

A 1996 conference jointly sponsored by the Institute and the National Defense University, the event illustrated that ICTs can increase the effectiveness of humanitarian and peacekeeping operations by supporting communication and cooperation among military and civilian organizations. Over 200 participants drew lessons from complex humanitarian operations in Somalia, Rwanda and Liberia.

Conference Overview and Proceedings Available Online

Back to Top

For More Information

To learn more about the work of the Virtual Diplomacy Initiative, please contact Virtual Diplomacy director Sheryl Brown.