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For nearly a decade, the term digital diplomacy has been closely associated with social media. In many MFAs, digital diplomacy units are actually tasked with managing social media empires that span hundreds of accounts across numerous platforms. Although social media has remained central to the practice of digital diplomacy, its use has changed over the... Continue Reading →
Now is the age of nostalgia. Throughout the world we are witnessing an insatiable longing for the past. In the post-Brexit haze, the UK craves the influence and power of its defunct empire; in Turkey neo-Ottoman sentiments have transformed a President into a Sultan; In America, many still hope to Make America Great Again while... Continue Reading →
Every few years, a new word seems to dominate societal discourses. In recent years the dominant word was “narrative”. New pundits depicted politics as a clash of narratives, diplomacy was understood as the practice of constructing appealing narratives, fake news and conspiracy theories were viewed as disruptive narratives that undermine trust in national institutions while... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
Recently, I was asked by an American diplomat about the benefits of using AI in public diplomacy activities. The Diplomat stated that as AI was a new kind of technology, foreign ministries around the world are anxious to learn about its benefits and shortcomings. This very question was put to me again this week when... Continue Reading →
The recent actions of tech moguls and CEOs of AI (Artificial Intelligence) companies have left many feeling whiplashed. Several months ago, Open AI launched its generative language model ChatGPT. This was soon followed by a flurry of AI activity as start-ups and established tech giants such as Google and Microsoft flooded the market with AI... Continue Reading →
Cultural appropriation, a term now heard often in media and academic discourse, is defined as “the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be especially controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from minority cultures”. The advent of... Continue Reading →
Diplomats and MFAs often seek to break their “algorithmic confines''. This is because social media algorithms limit the reach of diplomats’ online content. Tweets published by an Embassy, for example, will only reach the Embassy’s followers or social media followers who have expressed some interest in diplomacy, international relations or bi lateral ties between countries.... Continue Reading →
A newspaper article published last week announced that the “US plans to boost tech diplomats deployed to Embassies”. The plan would see the State Department deploy a diplomat “trained in tech issues” to each of its 168 embassies. US diplomats stated that there was an urgent need to get diplomats with tech expertise into the... Continue Reading →
Exploring Digital Diplomacy 