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“Digital solidarity” was the guiding principle Antony Blinken set out for U.S. international technology policy—not the name of a new consumer program. At the RSA Conference in San Francisco on May 6, 2024, the then–U.S. secretary of state announced the State Department’s U.S. International Cyberspace and Digital Policy Strategy, saying it treated digital solidarity as its “North Star.” The idea is that the United States should advance its goals by cooperating with allies and partners on a shared digital future that is open, secure, resilient, and respectful of rights.

What Blinken meant by “digital solidarity”

In the strategy, digital solidarity means working with other countries toward shared digital-policy goals: helping partners build capacity, supporting one another, and jointly shaping the rules and technical foundations of the digital environment. The State Department’s May 6, 2024 briefing describes cooperation on norms, regulations, and technical standards as part of that effort.

The premise is that countries pursuing rights-respecting uses of technology can be more secure, resilient, and prosperous when they cooperate. That makes solidarity broader than cybersecurity alone: it connects economic opportunity and security with human rights, democratic governance, and the rule of law.

How solidarity differs from digital sovereignty

Blinken framed the strategy against an approach he called “digital sovereignty”: “We’re committed not to ‘digital sovereignty’ but ‘digital solidarity,’” he said at RSA. In this speech, the contrast is between cooperation and interdependence across borders, on one hand, and approaches that place greater emphasis on nationally bounded control, on the other.

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That is the U.S. government’s framing in this policy announcement, not a universal definition of digital sovereignty. The contrast does not mean that governments should have no control over technology. Rather, the strategy argues that countries can pursue their interests and protect rights more effectively by working together on shared rules, standards, and resilience instead of relying only on isolated national approaches.

What the strategy sets out to do

The State Department’s strategy groups its work around an open, inclusive, secure, and resilient digital ecosystem. Its stated action areas include:

  • Working with international partners on digital and data governance that respects human rights.
  • Building coalitions to counter threats to cyberspace and critical infrastructure.
  • Strengthening partner countries’ digital-policy and cybersecurity capacity.
  • Supporting an open and resilient digital environment, including cooperation on shared norms and technical standards.

Dark Reading’s May 7, 2024 summary describes the strategy’s four broad goals as advancing economic prosperity; enhancing security and combating cybercrime; promoting human rights, democracy, and the rule of law; and addressing transnational challenges. That summary captures why the policy reaches beyond cyber defense into the wider consequences of technology and data governance.

Ukraine was Blinken’s example of solidarity in practice

To illustrate the idea, Blinken pointed to support for Ukraine following Russia’s invasion and cyberattacks. He said the United States, international partners, and technology companies helped harden Ukrainian networks, move vital government data to cloud infrastructure, and bolster national communications and other critical infrastructure.

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This was the example offered in the speech to show what cooperation could look like under pressure. It was not presented as an independently measured evaluation of the support’s results.

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Why putting the principle into practice may be difficult

The strategy’s cooperative ambition does not remove practical conflicts. A June 25, 2024 analysis by the Stimson Center describes a wide-ranging agenda spanning cyber operations, digital infrastructure, influence operations, data security, technology-facilitated gender-based violence, and artificial intelligence. It also identifies questions that implementation must address:

  • Unequal capacity: Partner countries do not have equal cybersecurity resources or policy expertise, so cooperation may require sustained capacity-building.
  • Interoperability costs: Making systems work together can require expensive, time-consuming infrastructure changes.
  • Export-control tensions: Restrictions on technology exports can complicate the strategy’s goal of cooperation and shared development.
  • Accountability: A framework grounded in rights needs credible and consistent responses to malicious cyber operations, including when a partner is responsible.

These are implementation challenges raised in Stimson’s analysis, not outcomes settled by Blinken’s announcement. They point to the central test for the policy: whether cooperation can be made practical and accountable when partners’ capabilities and interests diverge.

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