European governments wonder whether Trump will continue U.S. support for Ukraine and NATO in a conflict with Russia that has played out in part in cyberspace. Fick’s team was instrumental in creating a process to quickly send cyber defense aid to the stricken government of Ukraine.
“I was in Ukraine right before Christmas, I was in Poland, I was in Estonia, I was kind of up and down NATO’s eastern flank,” he says. Recognizing that European partners must do their part – which they, by the way, are increasingly doing.
More broadly, Fick has heard “a strong desire from many allies and partners” that the United States continue to stand toe-to-toe with China and Russia in cyber and technology discussions at international forums such as the United Nations and the Group of 20.
“Without deep U.S. involvement, you’re going to see the Chinese more deeply involved, and you’re going to see the Russians more deeply involved,” Feek said. There is a very wide view [globally] “The United States must be present in multilateral organizations for its own interests and for the interests of its allies and partners.”
Feek sympathizes with Republicans who see these multilateral organizations as too slow and timid, but he wants the Trump team to “make it clear that the alternative is not to reduce the influence of these organizations. The alternative is for them to become playgrounds for our rivals and enemies.”
“Sea Change” celebration
Looking back on his time as America’s cyber ambassador — spending 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 is a Launched a brand new office within the US. The State Department has grown it to about 130 employees and is producing results that it says are revolutionizing digital diplomacy.
One of his biggest accomplishments was launching a Foreign Cyber Assistance Fund, which supports 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. “The next morning, Thanksgiving morning, we got people on the plane with their hands on the keyboard, along with their Costa Rican partners that night,” Fick says. This is amazing. “This is a sea change in the way we do this and strengthens our hand in supporting these middle governments.”
Feek is also focused on preparing the Foreign Service for the modern world, setting a goal to train at least one technology-savvy diplomat for every foreign embassy (about 237 in total) and successfully lobbying to add digital proficiency to the State Department’s criteria for acting ambassadors. has given Situations He also helped the administration balance White House discussions on foreign technology issues with the Pentagon, and “put American diplomacy at the table, literally, in the situation room on technology issues.”
And then there’s his team’s support of U.S. cyber aid to Ukraine, from security software to satellite communications to cloud migration of critical government data — work he says sets a model for future public-private foreign partnerships.
A final warning
Feek has shared his thoughts on China, 5G, artificial intelligence, deterrence and other cyber issues with the Trump transition team, saying there is still more to do to keep cyber diplomacy “front and center” at State. But as he prepares to leave the government, he has an important piece of advice for the next administration.
“Having a bias for action is essential,” he says. We end up admiring a problem for too long before we take a decisive step to address it… That decisive step may be incomplete, but indecisiveness is a decision and the world will go on without you.
In other words: In an age of rapidly evolving technologies and intensifying geopolitical competition, massive bureaucracies like the State Department sometimes need to step in.
“The job of leaders in these large organizations is to move the organization toward change a little bit faster than they are,” Fick says.
