www.digdipblog.com
Throughout the 1980s, historian Eric Hobsbawm delivered a series of lectures examining the work of historians and the state of social history, his chosen discipline. Hobsbawm’s lectures coincided with tectonic shifts in global politics and rapid technological advancements as this decade witnessed the end of the Cold War, the false promise of neo-liberalism championed by... Continue Reading →
The past four days have seen the onset of a new crisis in the Middle East following a coordinated U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. The present crisis in the region is emblematic of 21st-century crises in three ways. First, the present crisis has engulfed the region, with Iran firing ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia,... Continue Reading →
Since the onset of the 2022 Russia-Ukraine War, the government of Ukraine has relied heavily on social media to narrate war related events, shape media coverage of the war, rally online support for Ukraine’s war effort and delegitimize Russia’s violent invasion. In a recent journal article, Moran Yarchi and I sought to examine Ukraine’s innovative... Continue Reading →
Digital diplomacy is now entering its third decade. Having emerged circa 2008 with the establishment of virtual embassies in virtual worlds, digital diplomacy now includes the use of diverse technologies ranging from social media to messaging applications, blogs, smartphone applications, big data analysis, coding, websites, and even crowdfunding, as recently used by Ukraine. For policymakers,... Continue Reading →
The digitalization of diplomacy has led to profound changes in MFAs (ministries of foreign affairs) across the world. This change has structural, normative, and practical dimensions. Structurally, most MFAs now have digital units tasked with authoring digital content and analyzing the social media output of other actors. In many MFAs, social media is used as... Continue Reading →
Scholars have long since asserted that nations have images. Although scholars differ on what these images consist of, and whether these images can be managed, they nonetheless agree that like consumer brands, nations elicit cognitive associations in people's minds. Upon hearing the name “Germany”, for example, certain associations may spring to people’s minds be it... Continue Reading →
In recent years diplomats have increasingly employed pop culture in their digital communications. Some nations, for instance, celebrate Star Wars Day on May the 4th tweeting at their followers. Others employ pop culture memes when attempting to shape global public opinion. Countries such as Ukraine, Russia, Israel and the UK have all relied in popular... Continue Reading →
By Giles Strachan and Ilan Manor In 1957, the physicist Hugh Everett proposed the Many-worlds Interpretation of reality. Quantum physicists had discovered that fundamental information about particles was unknowable until the particles were observed. At this point, reality re-asserts itself, as in the famous example of Schrödinger’s cat, which is both alive and dead until... Continue Reading →
On May 8th, the world celebrated the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. It was, for many, a solemn day. The end of World War II was meant to usher in a new dawn of stability and harmony amongst the nations of the world. The struggle to defeat Nazi Germany symbolized victory... Continue Reading →
In January 2025, the Trump White House unveiled a new Twitter/X account titled “Rapid Response 47.” From the perspective of digital diplomacy, such an account may be of strategic importance. The ubiquity of social media, smartphones, and digital technologies has ushered in an era of instantaneous news dissemination and real-time crisis communication. In this dynamic... Continue Reading →
Exploring Digital Diplomacy 