Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week- China’s striking advances in green technology (The Financial Times) Electric cars are already upending America (The Atlantic) Military technology is outpacing our diplomatic capacity (The Hill) 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2024 (MIT... Continue Reading →
Towards the Strategic Use of AI in Diplomacy
Whatever happened to the Metaverse? In June of 2022, Facebook officially changed its name to Meta reflecting a strategic decision to develop applications for the Metaverse. Hailed as the future incarnation of the internet, the Metaverse was described as a digital plane that would exist alongside the physical plane. Generated by advanced augmented and virtual... Continue Reading →
Monday’s Must Read List
Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week- The battle for internet search (The Economist) Deny, deflect, distract, confuse. repeat (EU vs DisInfo) Artificial Intelligence for the Poor (Foreign Affairs) Biden orders ban on certain US tech investments in... Continue Reading →
Is Humor an Effective Digital Diplomacy Strategy?
Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine War, Ukraine has relied on its social media channels to obtain foreign policy goals. Through its use of Twitter, Facebook and Telegram Ukraine has crowdfunded humanitarian aid, raised funds for the purchasing of weapons, negotiated agreements with tech magnets such as Elon Musk, managed a cyber army and obtained... Continue Reading →
Monday’s Must Read List
Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week- Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg fight will be streamed on X, according to Musk (CNN) Ukraine’s elite forces rely on technology to strike behind enemy lines (The Washington Post) U.S. company... Continue Reading →
Hold On: Ukraine’s Wartime Messaging
On July 8th, 2023, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense published a video on Twitter (shown below). The accompanying text clearly outlined the video's intended messages: The War in Ukraine is no action film or computer simulation. It’s a real war, with real stakes. The text concludes with the statement “And we very much know what we are doing.” This... Continue Reading →
Monday’s Must Read List
Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week- McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2023 (McKinsey) Google And OpenAI Plan Technology To Track AI-Generated Content (Forbes) Seven AI companies agree to safeguards in the US (BBC News) Google pitches media outlets... Continue Reading →
What’s in an Image? Ukraine’s Visual Narration
The advent of social media has transformed diplomats into ‘visual narrators’. By visual narrators I refer to diplomats’ growing ability to use visuals to deliver complex foreign policy messages. Indeed, over the past few years ,diplomats have learned to speak the language of visuals or what Roland Barthes called “The Rhetoric of the Image”. Barthes... Continue Reading →
Monday’s Must Read List
Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week- How to Redeem Social Media (The Atlantic) Face recognition in the US is about to meet one of its biggest tests (MIT Technology Review) Why some celebrities are embracing Artificial Intelligence... Continue Reading →
‘I can be a bastard too’ – ChatGPT’s Real Contribution to Diplomacy
By Giles Strachan and Ilan ManorIn 1952, General Sir Gerard Templer arrived in Malaya. On a visit to a village suspected of supporting communists, he delivered a tough speech. He began ‘You are all bastards’, which his translator converted to ‘His Excellency says that none of your parents were married.’ He continued ‘I can be... Continue Reading →