Daryl Copeland is in Canberra to promote his view that too many governments around the world are relying on armed force to conduct their foreign policy agendas.

He insists a rethink of international relations is required. Speaking to The Canberra Times yesterday, Mr Copeland said too many resources were poured into defence at the expense of reinvigorating true diplomacy.

''If development is in large part the new security in the age of globalisation, then diplomacy must replace defence at the centre of international policy,'' he said.

''Governments and foreign ministries should be keeping an eye on threats that have very little to do with the global war on terror which is about as threatening to most of us as getting killed in a car accident on a bad weekend.

''Instead, the threats reside in a range of issues that are rooted in some pretty heavy science and driven often by some very complex technologies; and here I'm talking about pandemic disease, climate change, biotechnology, food insecurity, resource scarcity, weapons of mass destruction. Any one of them could take down the planet. But foreign ministries are not very well equipped to manage.''

Instead of charging the military with tasks not suited to it, Mr Copeland suggests a new form of diplomacy is required.

That style is outlined in his book Guerrilla Diplomacy: Rethinking International Relations.

''Relentless improvisation, outside of the box, creative thinking, and smarter, sharper, faster, lighter, more creative ways of doing diplomacy,'' he said.

''Militaries work best when you don't use them. That sword stays sharpest when you leave it in the scabbard. Take it out and it makes a terrible mess just look at Iraq and Afghanistan.

For more on this story, see the print edition of today's Canberra Times.