Effective Government Communication During Covid19: What Governments Can Learn from Diplomats

A recent article in Nature, titled "Toward effective government communication strategies in the era of COVID-19", outlines communications policies that may help governments face the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors layout 9 guiding principles for "effective" government communication, including clarity, honesty and empathy. It is interesting that most of these principles are relevant to digital diplomacy,... Continue Reading →

October 26, 2021 0

A tale of Two Empires: Facebook and America

The enduring characteristic of empires is not that they rise, but that they fall. Some, such as Rome, fall due to corruption. Others, such as France, fall due to military defeats. Still others may fall due to technological deficits, as was the case with the Soviet Union, or due to societal unrest, as was the... Continue Reading →

October 14, 2021 0

Image Management at the UN General Assembly: The Russian Case Study

It’s that time of the year again. A time of expectation and jubilation. A time of press junkets and photobombs. A time of pomp and circumstance and a time of high level negotiations. It’s the time of the UN’s annual General Assembly when leaders, foreign ministers and diplomats swarm to New York to redraw borders,... Continue Reading →

September 29, 2021 0

In the age of Covid19, are Pharma companies diplomatic actors? A Twitter Analysis

Are tech giants diplomatic actors? This question has occupied scholars and commentators for several years. Some have argued that social media companies have obtained a form of digital statehood. Facebook, for instance, displays many trappings of a state including a citizenry, a currency and a diplomatic branch charged with managing relations with offline states. Others... Continue Reading →

September 23, 2021 0

What are the future challenges for digital diplomacy?

Last week I had the opportunity to partake in a conference organized by the Diplo Foundation asking- what do we mean when use the term “digital diplomacy”. During the conference I was asked three questions on the past, present and future practice of digital diplomacy. This post includes my answer and analysis. Q: How... Continue Reading →

September 9, 2021 0

How the US Army Visually Narrates the Fall of Afghanistan

In a blog post published last week, I examined how different actors framed, or narrated, the Taliban’s conquest of Afghanistan. Examining the use of digital diplomacy by world leaders, Embassies, diplomats and individuals, I demonstrated that social media are a competitive framing arena in which multiple actors vie over the attention of digital publics while... Continue Reading →

August 24, 2021 0

Who won the framing competition over Afghanistan? A Twitter Analysis

In 2012, Craig Hayden published one of the first research papers on digital diplomacy. Focusing on the emergence of social media, Hayden stated that the audiences of diplomacy were fragmented into networks of elective exposure. Some individuals learned about the world by following diplomats on Twitter, others turned to trusted bloggers while still others followed... Continue Reading →

August 19, 2021 0

Real Time Diplomacy: How Social Media Accelerates Diplomacy

In September of 1952, the world was shocked to learn that Israel and West Germany has signed an accord promising financial reparations to the Jewish victims of Nazi Germany. Until that month, Israel had vowed to never recognize, negotiate or interact with West Germany. The accord was made possible once German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, made... Continue Reading →

August 12, 2021 0

How Do Domestic Digital Policies Shape Digital Diplomacy?

Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in a conference organized by the European International Studies Association. One of the presentations focused on the Indian government’s new affinity for limiting access to the internet and social media sites under the guise of national security. In recent years, a growing number of nations have limited... Continue Reading →

July 5, 2021 0

Is it time for a terminology shift in digital diplomacy?

The digitalization of diplomacy has been closely associated with the practice of public diplomacy. Indeed, early adopters sought to leverage digital tools such as social media, blog sites and virtual worlds to foster ties with foreign populations. Public diplomacy underscored the digitalization of the US State Department that sought to engage with critical Muslim audiences... Continue Reading →

July 1, 2021 0

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