European governments are wondering whether Trump will continue US support for Ukraine and NATO in a conflict with Russia that has played out in part in cyberspace. Fick’s team was instrumental in establishing a process to rapidly deliver cyber defense assistance to Ukraine’s battered government.
“I was in Ukraine just before Christmas, I was in Poland, I was in Estonia, kind of up and down NATO’s eastern flank,” he says, adding that he felt a deep desire that the United States must remain engaged and a recognition that European partners will have to do their part – which, by the way, they are increasingly doing.”
More broadly, Fick heard “a strong desire among many allies and partners” for the US to continue to engage with China and Russia in technology and cyber discussions in international bodies such as the UN and the Group of 20.
“Without the United States being deeply involved, you’re going to see the Chinese more deeply involved, you’re going to see the Russians more involved,” Fick says. “There is a fairly broad view [globally] that the US, for its own interests and for the interests of our allies and partners, must remain involved in multilateral organizations.”
Fick sympathizes with Republicans who view these multilateral organizations as too slow and timid, but he wants Trump’s team to “recognize that the alternative is not reduced influence of these organizations; the alternative is simply that they become playgrounds for our competitors and our adversaries.”
Celebrate “a sea change”
Looking back on his time as America’s cyber ambassador—which saw him spend a total of more than 200 days traveling the world on nearly 80 trips to visit key U.S. allies and partners—Fick is proud of how his team entirely new bureau within the State Department, it has expanded to about 130 employees and delivered results that it says are transforming digital diplomacy.
Among his biggest accomplishments was the launch of a foreign cyber aid fund that will support programs to deploy security assistance to hacked allies, subsidize new undersea cables and train foreign diplomats on cyber issues.
The security assistance project experienced an early test in November when Costa Rica faced another major ransomware attack. “We had people on a plane the next morning, Thanksgiving morning, hands on keyboards with Costa Rican partners that night,” says Fick. “It’s amazing. It’s a big change in how we do it, and it’s going to strengthen our hand in providing support to these middle land states.”
Fick also focused on preparing the Foreign Service for the modern world, meeting his goal of training at least one tech-savvy diplomat for every foreign embassy (about 237 total) and successfully lobbying for digital fluency at adding the State Department’s criteria for career ambassador. positions. He also helped the state counter the Pentagon in White House discussions on foreign technology issues – by “literally putting American diplomacy back to the table in the Situation Room on technology topics.”
And then there’s his team’s support for U.S. cyber aid to Ukraine, from security software to satellite communications to cloud migration for vital government data—work he says provides a template for future public-private foreign aid partnerships.
One final warning
Fick shared his thoughts on China, 5G, AI, deterrence and other cyber issues with Trump’s transition team, and he says there’s still more to do to keep cyber diplomacy “front and center” at state. But as he prepares to leave government, he has one big piece of advice for the incoming administration.
“It’s essential to have a bias for action,” he says. “We end up admiring a problem for too long rather than taking a decisive step to address it… That decisive step may be imperfect, but indecision is a decision, and the world goes on without you.”
Put another way: In an era of rapidly evolving technologies and increasing geopolitical competition, massive bureaucracies like the State Department sometimes need to be pushed into action.
“The job of the leaders in these large organizations,” says Fick, “is to move the organization to change a little faster than it would on its own.”