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The origins of digital diplomacy may be traced back to the search for “cost-effective” diplomacy at the beginning of the 21st century. The end of the Cold War was accompanied by reductions in the funds allocated to public diplomacy activities. The demise of the Soviet Union was supposed to be replaced by a homogenous capitalist... Continue Reading →
Last week US President Donald Trump was asked by a Fox News reporter “why should my son go to Montenegro to defend it from an attack”. Responding to the question, Trump stated that “I’ve asked the same question” casting doubt on America’s resolve to stand by the newest member of the NATO alliance. Trump’s statement... Continue Reading →
Note: This post was originally published on the blog of the Cambridge Review of International Affairs and was co-authored with Corneliu Bjola. In 1988, Robert Putnam conceptualised diplomatic negotiations as a two-level game in which national and international politics often collide. In this framework, constituents and interest groups (labour unions, activist groups, etc.) pursue their interests at... Continue Reading →
In 1986 a new press attaché was appointed to the Israeli Embassy in London. His first task was to establish close working relationships with the editors of Fleet Street, the home all major British newspapers at the time. One of the attaché’s most important meeting was with the journalist writing the editorials for the Times... Continue Reading →
James Pamment has written that for most of the 20th century the term public diplomacy was associated with the term propaganda. According to the Oxford Dictionary propaganda relates to information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view. During the 21st century, the field of public... Continue Reading →
Despite the emergence of new technologies the task of evaluating public diplomacy activities remains a daunting one. While scholars and practitioners have offered numerous definitions for the term public diplomacy, they have yet to agree upon a method for measuring the impact of public diplomacy activities. Some have suggested that public diplomacy is a means... 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 →
Several weeks ago I published a post titled "Preparing for the Digital Future". In it, I advocated that MFAs (ministries of foreign affairs) and diplomats should adopt a proactive approach to digital innovation. A proactive approach begins with understating the future technological landscape and taking measures to adapt to this landscape in terms of working... Continue Reading →
Introduction March 4th saw a nerve agent attack in London that left two people dead. According to the British government, this attack was perpetrated by Russia and constitutes the first nerve agent attack since the end of World War 2. In the hours and days following the attack, the UK government demanded that Russia offer... Continue Reading →
Prof. Corenliu Bjola of the Oxford Digital Diplomacy Research Group recently concluded that the first stage of digital diplomacy has been a resounding success. Although MFAs are risk averse organizations who value discretion and shun from the limelight, they have successfully migrated to social media and adopted new communication practices that centre on information sharing,... Continue Reading →
Exploring Digital Diplomacy 