Zoom diplomacy means speedy meet and greets, not just virtual
WASHINGTON—For his first “trip” as U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken is planning to “visit” Canada and Mexico on Friday — making stops at a southern border crossing and at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, as well as hosting an event from the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa after meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau.
“This first world trip by Secretary Blinken is another sign of our commitment to these relationships,” U.S. State Department official Julie Chung said in a briefing call to reporters Thursday.
It sounds like an absurd travel itinerary for one day. But this is pandemic time, so it’s all taking place by Zoom, or some equivalent software. Rather than billing it as a series of video meetings, the State Department calls it a “virtual trip.”
During the same briefing, spokesperson Edward Price defended the gimmick. “We’re calling it a ‘virtual trip’ because it will include many of the elements that a physical trip would — embassy meet and greets; meeting with civil society; bilateral meetings; meetings with other government ministers; and then a press avail at the end of the day,” he said. “We’re doing the best we can to fulfil our diplomatic mission and to further our relationships with our close North American partners, given the reality in which we currently live.”
It’s a reality with which many of us in North America have become all too familiar. What he didn’t point out is that trying to squeeze diplomatic lemonade out of pandemic-restriction lemons may also be allowing things to be accomplished somewhat faster and more easily than in normal times — like a continental tour of multiple international embassies and foreign government offices in one day.
Or like the bilateral meeting Prime Minister Trudeau held with President Joe Biden earlier this week. The most noticeable feature of that meeting was that it was held by video from Ottawa and Washington.
The awkward glitches that come with that format were obvious enough: On the White House video stream showing the leaders side-by-side, Trudeau appeared to be looking directly away from Biden as he spoke.
The biggest virtue of that meeting, less obviously, may also have been enabled by the format. Maryscott Greenwood, the CEO of the Canadian American Business Council, described the broad, “high level strategic dialogue” as unprecedented. It involved simultaneous meetings by eight of Trudeau’s cabinet ministers (including Garneau) with their American counterparts (including Blinken).
The pandemic-prompted remote nature of the bilateral meeting almost certainly made having the senior government officials of both countries sit down at the same time a heck of a lot easier (and more likely) than a traditional state visit would have. Just as the return visit from Blinken later in the same week would be a stretch further if plane travel, rather than software, was required.
According to Chung, Blinken and Garneau are expected to discuss a lot of the same issues that were on the virtual table at the meeting earlier this week: COVID-19, climate change, energy, trade, defence.
She said Blinken would continue to support Canada’s demand for the release of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig from detention in China. “We stand by Canada, our strong friend and partner, in the issues of arbitrary detention and for the release of the two Canadian citizens.”
Blinken will also meet with a group of Canadian students and local leaders from the Arctic region to discuss climate change and take in a traditional Inuit performance — something else made simpler by the technological format.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Perhaps some of these pandemic diplomatic innovations to allow more to happen more quickly will still prove useful after the borders are reopened to travel.
When that reopening might happen is another thing that will be discussed, although Chung said it likely wouldn’t lead to a conclusion Friday. “We will just continue to consult each other, because this is a dynamic issue, and there are constantly changes, whether it’s COVID variants or other issues that we need to address.”