Securing Global Engagement: Protecting Diplomacy in an Age of New Threats

Diplomacy depends on engagement. Diplomats must travel, international delegations must meet, institutions must exchange information, and people must be able to build relationships across borders. But as the global threat environment becomes more complex, enabling that engagement increasingly requires sophisticated approaches to security.

This session explores the evolving relationship between security and diplomacy and the challenge of protecting the people, institutions, information, and activities that make international engagement possible.

Featuring Michael Evanoff, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security, the conversation will draw on decades of experience protecting American diplomatic operations and personnel around the world.

From terrorism and political instability to cyber threats, disinformation, targeted violence, surveillance, and emerging technologies, the risks surrounding international engagement continue to evolve. The challenge for governments and organizations is not simply to eliminate risk, but to manage it in ways that allow diplomacy and international exchange to continue.

The discussion will examine how security professionals assess changing threats, prepare diplomats and international organizations to operate in challenging environments, and balance protection with the fundamental need for diplomats to remain accessible and engaged.

At its core, the session asks an increasingly important question: How do we keep the world connected when the environments in which diplomacy takes place are becoming more complex and less predictable?