Tech Behind Diplomacy #11
The 'All Red Line'
Britain's 19th-century submarine cables gave it:
Global empire connectivity
Intelligence interception capability
Control over international communications
Lesson: Infrastructure control = geopolitical power
📖: https://t.co/AAMlbrsv6U
Tech Behind Diplomacy #10
Satellite diplomacy began in 1963
*UN’s U Thant joined Geneva from NY - the first remote participation
*Showed leaders needn’t share a room
*Proved urgency of video links post‑Cuban Crisis
*Virtual presence sustains diplomacy
📖 https://t.co/AAMlbrrXhm
Tech Behind Diplomacy #9
Long before telegraph, Greeks used fire‑signals across peaks.🔥
* Fire beacons (pyrseía) sent real-time messages across mountains
* Troy's fall reached Greece in one night
* Strategic speed has always been diplomatic advantage
📗: https://t.co/AAMlbrrXhm
🎭 Tech Behind Diplomacy #6
Cinema became soft power.
🎬 Films projected ideology & national power.
🏛️ Cultural diplomacy opened doors (#TheLastEmperor).
🌏 #Nollywood challenged Western narratives.
💡 Visual stories win audiences before treaties.
📖 : https://t.co/AAMlbrrXhm
Technology/Diplomacy/Transformation
Gutenberg’s Press transformed diplomacy in 1440
… new book (2nd edition) exploring exploring the future of diplomacy in the AI era…. From smoke signals to artificial Intelligence
🔒 Tech Behind Diplomacy #5
Early modern cryptography turned diplomacy into a code war.
🕵️ Black Chambers intercepted mail.
🖋️ Cipher secretaries guarded sovereignty.
📑 Interception risks reshaped workflow.
💡 A message is only as strong as its code.
📖 : https://t.co/AAMlbrrXhm
🔌 Tech Behind Diplomacy #2
The 19th‑c telegraph 'annihilated distance', but cost autonomy.
⚡ Ambassadors at the wire, crises escalated fast (Ems Telegram 1870).
🚢 Britain’s cables gave near‑monopoly.
💡 Speed can save - or spark - war.
📖 More: https://t.co/AAMlbrrXhm
⚔️ First Written Peace: Treaty of Kadesh (1259 BCE)
Egypt & Hittites sealed history’s first #peace treaty, possible only through 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: hieroglyphs, cuneiform, clay archives.
💡 Lesson: Without writing, peace fades with memory.
📖 More: https://t.co/AAMlbrrXhm
Did you know?
The first successful #TransatlanticCable (1866) reduced communication time between London and New York from ten days to just minutes.
From 'History of Diplomacy and Technology', available at: https://t.co/AAMlbrrXhm
#HistoryOfDiplomacy#TechHistory
Did you know?
The global telegraph network relied on Gutta-Percha, a rare tree sap from Southeast Asia used as the only effective underwater insulation for copper wires.
From 'History of Diplomacy and Technology', available at: https://t.co/AAMlbrrXhm
#TelegraphHistory
If the Ottoman #Dragoman existed today, it’d be a Diplomatic #AIAgent.
For centuries, translators ran back‑channels; now algorithms hold the keys. Who controls the middle‑man controls peace.
From History of Diplomacy and Technology: https://t.co/AAMlbrrXhm
You’re a diplomat in 1866.
The first successful #transatlantic cable is live. Your capital is now 15 minutes away, not 10 days. Your autonomy is gone.
Do you:
A) Follow every wire instruction
B ) Filter the info you send
C) Request more discretion
Think. Decide. Reply.
If Venetian #Relazioni happened today, they’d be #BigData analytics.
Venice thrived on elite data gathering;
today’s power lies in analysing fastest.
👉From History of Diplomacy and Technology: https://t.co/AAMlbrrXhm
#BigData#FutureOfDiplomacy#PredictiveAnalytics
Diplomat Petru Dumitriu reviews History of Diplomacy and Technology, calling it a voyage of diplomacy: turbulent yet continuous, human, and adaptive.
In an age where tech is cast as threat, he sees resilience and originality.
📕Full review: https://t.co/Wmc1Ntr8a2
If the #RosettaStone appeared today, it would be an AI translator.
Ancient diplomacy decoded stones; we trust #LLMs. But when #AI hallucinates a treaty nuance, who’s accountable?
From History of Diplomacy and Technology: https://t.co/AAMlbrrXhm
#FutureOfDiplomacy
Did you know? 🔥
Before fibre optics, there was fire. In 2nd-century BCE Greece, Cleoxenes & Democritus created the pyrseia, a torch-grid telegraph that spelled messages.
The first 'visual telegraph' for diplomacy.
Read more about it: https://t.co/AAMlbrsv6U