There is much low-hanging fruit here. The networks of actors on the international stage are already beginning to be mapped⁶, giving a deeper understanding of the connections that can influence negotiations. The text databases at some international organisations are also being mined using natural language processing to study the way language use evolves over time, to measure the consistency of statements and how this might be used to better understand future discussion.

There is still much more that can be done. Computational approaches will allow researchers to model the various aspects of real-world diplomacy and to simulate the outcomes of different approaches, for example. The hope is that this will lead to more fruitful outcomes from future diplomatic interactions.

Developing the expertise that can manage and exploit these processes is a significant challenge. Future actors in this area will need a good grounding in computer science as well as a fluency in the language and process of diplomacy, and building this capacity is a key short-term goal.