President Obama and China: cyber diplomacy and strategy for a new era

President Obama was a cyber president. He understood the importance of cybersecurity and its implications for national security. Cyber issues were a major focus of Sino-US relations during his time in office. There was, however, a notable shift in the approach that the US took in its engagement in cyber diplomacy with China between Obama’s first (2009–2012) and second terms (2013–2016). It is important to understand why this shift occurred. Examining Sino-US cyber diplomacy in isolation will not provide the answers. There is a need to understand the broader context of Sino-US relations and what was occurring in more traditional diplomacy to get a more complete picture of the situation, particularly the impact of the pivot that occurred in late 2011. Despite the complexities of modern international relations and the difficulties of integrating cyber strategy and policy with broader Grand Strategy, it is important to examine how this was done. Analysing the example of Sino-US relations during Obama’s time in office demonstrates some important lessons for how cyber diplomacy cannot be isolated from the broader diplomatic context of a relationship, but needs to be analysed in the context of its integration into broader Grand Strategy.