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Last month, ‘The Economist’ magazine published an extensive article examining Covid’s impact on the practice of diplomacy. According to the article, the Coronavirus has led to the accelerated digitalization of diplomacy. Once the United Nations Headquarters shut its doors, and as diplomats all over the world found themselves quarantined at home, diplomacy migrated to digital... Continue Reading →
During the 2021 International Studies Association conference (ISA), I had the opportunity to partake in a roundtable Chaired by Nick Cull and Nancy Snow. The two have just recently finished editing the 2020 Routledge Handbook of Public Diplomacy. Authors who contributed to the handbook, including myself, were asked to reflect on how Covid19 has influenced... Continue Reading →
Traditionally, MFAs (ministries of foreign affairs) have been viewed as organizations that face the world with their back to the nation as they have been responsible for communicating with foreign populations rather than the national citizenry. Thus, unlike ministries of Justice, Homeland Security and Culture, MFAs were never able to foster a domestic constituency putting... Continue Reading →
In December of 2014, I conducted a series of interviews with Geneva based Ambassadors hoping to understand how smartphones had influenced the conduct of diplomacy. Through these interviews I learned that Ambassadors were increasingly using the messaging application WhatsApp to communicate with their peers. Such communication influenced diplomacy in three ways. First, the Ambassadors stated... Continue Reading →
During World War 2, the US 101st Airborne Division took part in what would be known as the Battle of the Bulge. Encircled by the German Military, pounded by German artillery and freezing in the winter’s snow, members of 101st were told to hold their positions near the municipality of Bastogne at all costs. By... Continue Reading →
2017 marks a decade since the advent of “digital diplomacy”. What began as an experiment by a select number of foreign ministries has transformed into routine practice for diplomats and embassies the world over. To mark this occasion, I will be publishing a series of working papers. The goal of this series is to reflect... Continue Reading →
To Download the Conference Summary Report click here (Digital Diplomacy Conference Summary_Final) On the 30th of March, 2016, the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Partner Institute at Tel Aviv University co-hosted Israel’s first Digital Diplomacy conference. Attended by 50 diplomats from 20 countries, alongside scholars from 25 universities, the conference aimed to investigate the impact... Continue Reading →
The horrid attack that shook London on Wednesday was a painful reminder that terrorism still plagues our world. Within minutes of the attack confusion and panic spread offline and online as people scrambled to make sense of the events unfolding outside Parliament. Initial reports indicated that several terrorists had attacked various targets across the city.... Continue Reading →
Exploring Digital Diplomacy 