Participants From Over 15 Countries at the AGS Conference 2014

The AGS Graduate Student Conference 2014 (April 17-18) saw presenters and attendees from over fifteen countries discuss the many aspects of "Cyber-Developments in International Relations". They examined the impact of the internet, information technology developments and social media on such various topics as diplomacy, democracy, security, freedom and children's rights.

"Cyberdiplomacy, cybersecurity, cyberwar, cyberpeace... we have 'cyberized' a lot of things over the two days of the conference." says Professor Ruchi Anand, faculty director of the AGS conference, who pulls together a new team of student organizers every year. "We were able to examine the vividly current and widely discussed issue of the internet and social media revolutions beyond the headlines and beyond the dinner conversations, to examine their impact on international affairs and to explore the perspectives that they open for the future." 

Ambassador Wilfried Bolewski's opening speech kicked off the two days of discussions with many insights drawn from expertise acquired during his thirty-five years as a career diplomat, shedding light on the changes happening in the political and diplomatic arena. "The greatest impact of social media on diplomacy comes in the form of transparency. Diplomacy, as a means and procedure of executing foreign policy, is now performed in an environment of radically increased transparency, visibilty and contention, where its listening role is enhanced. That forces governments to be more honest and consistent." Bolewski adds: "Pushed to the furthest realistic vision, the possibilities attached to digital diplomacy could lead to an extended empowerment of civil society - in which we are all equal actors - promoting common principles such as solidarity, restraint, distributive justice. But let us not forget that if we all share the benefits of the internet as a 'global commons', we also share the responsibility."

The first panel, moderated by Professor Anand, addressed Cyber-security, with speakers from the University of Lodz in Poland, York University in Canada, and the Central European University in Hungary discussing topics such as the militarization of cyber-space and the war on terror. The second panel focused on the changing face of democracy under the impact of the Internet and social media, particularly through what is referred to as 'hacktivism'. Presenters came from the University of Turin in Italy, Lunds University in Sweden, and Rochester Institute of Technology in the US to share their research on this subject with the moderation of Professor Patrick Clairzier.

The third panel concentrated on the topic of media, freedom of information and right to privacy in this new era of the internet. The moderator Joav Toker, journalist and media specialist, hosted scholars from the University of Pennsylvania, York University in Canada and Masaryk University in the Czech Republic. One of the presentations asked whether "information wants to be free," while another approached the new media as a consciousness-raising tool for the contemporary women's movement.

The panel on diplomacy placed cyber-diplomacy in the larger context of innovative diplomacy as going beyond the norm-based forms of cooperation to forms of trust-building through dialogue, with speakers from Kings College London, Sciences Po Paris, Charles University in the Czech Republic and University of Buenos Aires in Argentina.

The keynote panel closed the two-days of the conference with a dream team of experts on children's rights and internet issues. AGS Professor Elizabeth Milovidov, founder of www.crossingguardconsulting.com with services aimed to empower parents on the digital highway at www.digitalparentingcoach.com moderated the panel. She invited Sarah Devlin from the US State Department's Africa Regional Services, Melinda George, WikiChild Coordinator at the OECD in Paris, Susanna Greijer, child protection consultant at ECPAT Luxembourg, Alexis Niki, founder of StoryNova, and Mary Adams, social media expert, around the table. During the two-hour panel, they discussed and answered the audience's questions on the impact of the internet on children rights - the way it affects them, and how children's rights advocates can use this powerful tool to serve their cause. 

The event was organized entirely by AGS students enrolled in the Master's of International Relations and Diplomacy program, under the supervision of Professor Ruchi Anand. This year's student director Stefan De Las said: "This has been an immensely enriching experience on many levels, for me as well as for the whole team of student volunteers who worked with me. We have acquired or refined highly transferable skills in all of the different aspects that are involved in putting out such an event, from defining the theme to writing the call for papers, to selecting the papers, to organizing the marketing and logistical aspects of the event. And this has allowed us to participate in a large scale project from A to Z... with all the satisfaction and relief that comes with Z!"

See full photo albums on our Facebook page:

• Photo Album of Conference - Day 1

• Photo Album of Conference - Day 2

• Photo Album of Keynote Panel