Engineering Diplomacy Playbook

Turning a Handbook into a Living Reasoning System

Engineering Diplomacy transforms static handbooks into dynamic reasoning systems using AI tools like NotebookLM. Shafiqul Islam experimented by uploading chapters from the Open-Source Water Diplomacy Handbook, prompting the AI to create a "Crosswalk Index" linking challenges, tools, and real-world cases across scales like community and transnational levels. The AI excelled at structuring connections and staying grounded in sources, avoiding hallucinations, but fell short by mistaking chapter titles for actual challenges and drifting toward generic "best practices" without assessing conditions for success.​

AI mirrors human thinking flaws, such as prioritizing categories over precise problem diagnosis, which is vital in complex fields like water governance where uncertainty and politics intersect. True engineering diplomacy demands "principled pragmatism"—evaluating tools like Joint Fact-Finding for contextual fit, scientific credibility, empathy, and political viability before application. Cases from AquaPedia serve as a "falsification engine," testing handbook principles against real outcomes to evolve the playbook iteratively.​

For more info, see the full article here: https://engineeringdiplomacy.substack.com/p/engineering-diplomacy-playbook-deb