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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 →
NOTE: On March 30, 2021 the International Communication Section of ISA, and the ICA's Public Diplomacy Interest Group held a joint debate on the merits of the term Soft Power. I was asked to argue against the proposition. Below are my comments, which should be regarded as both an assessment of the term Soft Power,... Continue Reading →
Two years ago the Dutch Foreign Ministry held a Digital Diplomacy Camp. Over the course of two days, the Camp offered a platform for diplomats, journalists, scholars and representatives of social media companies eager to discuss the digitalization of diplomacy. In one session, Jay Wang of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy reflected on online... Continue Reading →
In the autumn of 1990, Joseph Nye sought to re-imagine what American power would like in the 21st century. Writing near the end of the Cold War, Nye offered scholars and policy makers a new conceptual framework through which they could understand power dynamics in a changing world. The Cold War would soon be over,... Continue Reading →
This blog post is an excerpt from a recent special issue of the Hague Journal of Diplomacy dealing with the future of public diplomacy. For the full article click here Corneliu Bjola, Jennifer Cassidy and Ilan Manor The scope, volume and intensity of global data connectivity are expected to explode in the coming years. The... Continue Reading →
Paweł Surowiec (University of Sheffield) and Chris Miles (Bournemouth University) During the Cold War, the categorisation between ‘high’ and ‘low’ politics, mirrored by 'high' and 'low' cultures, was distinguishable as a trend in public diplomacy. These distinctions became blurred and, in the early 2000s, a new trend emerged whereby ‘high’ politics began borrowing from 'low'... Continue Reading →
When evaluating the digitalization of public diplomacy, one can segment this process into two stages. The first stage lasted from circa 2007 to 2014. It was during this stage that diplomats and diplomatic institutions began to experiment with digital technologies. In 2007 the Swedish Institute launched one of the world’s first virtual embassies. In 2011... 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 →
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 →
