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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 →
At a recent international conference I was asked- how does relationality help understand public diplomacy in today’s world? To answer this question, we must first characterize todays’ world. It is a world that is prone to crises, a world that is marked by wars, it is a complex world as a crisis in one world... Continue Reading →
In the early 1990s, scholars coined the term “The CNN Effect” referencing the impact that CNN had on American foreign policy. Scholars asserted that issues which rose to prominence in CNN were soon addressed by American policy makers. In this way CNN shaped the priorities of the White House and the State Department. CNN was... Continue Reading →
In a classic episode of the television show “Yes Prime Minister”, the Civil Servant Humphrey Appleby explains the logic of British diplomacy saying: “The Foreign Office is pro-Europe because it’s really anti-Europe. The civil service was united in its desire to make sure that the Common Market didn’t work. That’s why we went into it.... Continue Reading →
There are two different prisms for investigating the relationship between technology and society. The technological prism views technology as a determining factor in society’s evolution. This prism assumes that once a new technology has been introduced, it will send multiple ripple effects through society impacting power relations, class struggles, geopolitical competitions and even norms, values, and laws.... 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 →
In recent works, scholars and diplomats have begun to experiment with ChatGPT, the generative AI bot that has taken the world by storm. For scholars of diplomacy, ChatGPT is yet another digital innovation that may disrupt the work of diplomats. Just like social media, big data, messaging apps and bots, ChatGPT may prove both useful... Continue Reading →
It is often said that practice makes perfect. While Ukraine’s digital diplomacy is not perfect, the Ukrainian government has gained valuable expertise in using digital technologies. Indeed, since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine War, Ukraine has employed a host of innovative digital tactics. These include the creation of a hacker army; crowdfunding aid for its... Continue Reading →
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 →
The following remarks were made at the 2021 Namaste Conference on Indian Soft Power In his renowned article from 1990, Joseph Nye sought to imagine how America would exercise power in the post- Cold War era. Power, asserted Nye, rests on the ability to change the behavior of other states. This can be achieved through... Continue Reading →
Exploring Digital Diplomacy 