The past two years have seen a flurry of editorials, newspaper articles and official reports detailing the manner in which ISIS uses social media to recruit young members, manage its global image and disseminate its message of hate to a global audience. The underlying assumption of these articles and reports is that tweets can kill.... Continue Reading →
The 2016 Social Network of Foreign Ministries
Introduction In May of 2014, I published my analysis of the social network of world foreign ministries (MFAs) on twitter. My assumption was that MFAs would actively follow one another online in order to gather relevant information. For instance, by following other ministries an MFA may be able to identify policy changes in certain countries,... Continue Reading →
Are World Leaders Arriving at COP21 as King Diplomats?
NOTE: This blog first appeared on http://www.cop21live.com In a fascinating article published in 2015, scholar Piki Ish-Shalom argued that world leaders have begun to take charge of the routine workings of diplomacy rather than limiting their involvement in diplomacy to times of crises. According to Ish-Shalom, world leaders are now King Diplomats. King Diplomats have long... Continue Reading →
Israel & Terror: A Case Study in Nation Branding
On Nation Branding: While the practice of digital diplomacy brings with it many benefits to foreign ministries, its practice also poses many challenges. From the need to coordinate messages on a global scale, to the training of diplomats and ambassadors in the use of social media platforms, the practice of digital diplomacy requires a growing... Continue Reading →
The Online King Diplomats
In a fascinating article published in 2015, Piki Ish-Shalom argued that world leaders have begun to take charge of the mundane, routine, workings of diplomacy rather than limiting their involvement in diplomacy to times of crises. World leaders are now King Diplomats. Ish-shalom further argues that world leaders’ over reaching in diplomacy leads us to... Continue Reading →
WikiLeaks Revisited
On the 28th of November 2010, pandemonium spread among foreign ministries throughout the world as WikiLeaks began publishing some 250,000 diplomatic cables sent between US missions around the world and the State Department in Washington. These cables included frank assessments by US diplomats of world leaders, governments and their host countries. Hailed by some as... Continue Reading →
Six Degrees of Foreign Policy Narration
There seems to a prevailing opinion among International Relations’ scholars that our world is one of perpetual crises. The moment one crisis ends, such as the threat of Ebola, another begins, such as Russian military involvement in Syria. Communication has always been an integral part of crisis management. Moreover, diplomatic crises are often defined as... Continue Reading →
Does Digital Diplomacy Blur All Boundaries?
This month, public diplomacy scholar Bruce Gregory published a new article in the Hague Journal of Diplomacy titled “Mapping Boundaries in Diplomacy's Public Dimension". In this article, Gregory explores the need to better define the boundaries between public diplomacy and other forms of diplomatic practice. Gregory makes an important point when asserting that “boundaries are... Continue Reading →
Palestine’s Online Line of Defence
As the violence between Israel and Palestine continued to escalate over the past week, both parties took to social media in order to offer their narrative of events. Last week I explored Israel’s official narrative by analysing tweets published by Israel’s MFA. What struck me most was the fact that Israel’s narrative seems to completely... Continue Reading →
Israel’s Online Line of Defence
The last two weeks have seen a violent wave of Palestinian terror in Israel. Nearly every day terrorist acts are committed against Israeli citizens in cities and towns throughout the country. This Wednesday alone saw four such attacks in one day. On Thursday evening, Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed Israeli citizens stating that as was the... Continue Reading →
Exploring Digital Diplomacy 