On Digital Diplomacy, Empowering Citizens Globally, and AI

On this special edition of The E.R., David Rothkopf talks with Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet, Inc., who accepted this year’s Diplomat of the Year award on behalf of Google. The conversation at the awards dinner was centered on how the massive gains in connectivity are changing the landscape of diplomacy. Within just a few years, everyone on this planet may be connected to the internet; will this massive exchange of information rewrite the rulebook of sovereignty?

Rothkopf and Schmidt discuss the ins and outs of digital diplomacy on both a state-to-state and person-to-person level. How do we keep up in this age of information? What do we do about fake information? And where does artificial intelligence fit in with all of this? The strides that Google has made to embolden citizens globally are vast and encouraging, which is why FP chose the international organization as this year’s Diplomat of the Year.

Other awards of the night went to Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who accepted the Green Diplomat of the Year award on behalf of C40 Cities; and Hafsat Abiola, a Nigerian activist and founder of the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy, who accepted this year’s Citizen Diplomat of the Year.

Eric Schmidt is the executive chairman of Alphabet, Inc. Follow him on Twitter at: @ericschmidt.

David Rothkopf is the CEO and editor of The FP Group. Follow him on Twitter at: @djrothkopf.

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