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 →
From Magic Bullets to Bots: How Diplomats Conceptualize Social Media
Since the late 1930's communications scholars have investigated the influence of masa media on society. At times, scholars assumed that mass media such as radio and film had an immense impact on individuals and could manipulate their thoughts, beliefs and actions. At other times scholars assumed that the effects of mass media were cumulative and... Continue Reading →
The 2018 Social Network of MFAs
Introduction In May of 2014, I published my analysis of the social network of world foreign ministries (MFAs) on Twitter. My assumption was that MFAs would actively follow one another online in order to gather relevant information. For instance, by following other ministries an MFA may be able to identify policy changes in certain countries,... Continue Reading →
Can Digital Diplomacy Really Start A War?
On August 13th, 2017, Nick Miller published an article in The Sydney Morning Herald titled "Getting it wrong could start a war: Welcome to age of digital diplomacy". The article, which attracted much media and social media attention, proposed that digital diplomacy could actually facilitate war between states. Similar sentiments have been expressed in recent... Continue Reading →
Why is Public Diplomacy Data Driven? A Response to Bean & Comor
Note: A version of this post first appeared on the USC Center on Public Diplomacy's website Introduction: Data Driven Public Diplomacy Last month, All Azimuth published an article by Bean and Comor titled "Data Driven Public Diplomacy: A Critical and Reflexive Assessment". The article focuses on a report published by the US Advisory Commission on... Continue Reading →
The Digitalization of Diplomacy: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Terminology
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 →
Ambassadors in a Digital Age
Note: This post originally appeared in Diplomat Magazine On 30 MARCH 2017, the Cyprus High Commission and Oxford Digital Diplomacy Research Group co-hosted London’s first Ambassador’s Forum on Digital Diplomacy. The Forum examined the varied ways in which digitalisation has impacted the function of ambassadors, be it in creating new challenges or fostering new opportunities. Notably,... Continue Reading →
Can the Internet Save Public Diplomacy?
Introduction- Narratives, Narratives, Narratives Several weeks ago I began watching a TV show depicting the lives of vampires in New York City. One of the greatest challenge facing these vampires is their lack of ability to gain acceptance from the human population. As the vampire leader summarized, “we lack a compelling narrative”. This week I... Continue Reading →
How Palestine Digitized It’s Public Diplomacy
NOTE: This blog post originally appeared on the USC CPD Blog and was co-written with Professor Marcus Holmes In 2011, the U.S. State Department launched Virtual Embassy Iran, a web-based platform that aimed to promote American “values and culture” to Iranians. This embassy served as an example of how diplomats can use digital technologies to... Continue Reading →
Digitizing the EU’s Public Diplomacy in Israel
Introduction The relationship between Israel and the European Union has been strained for some time. Indeed it is enough to review op-eds published in Israeli newspapers to sense the resentment Israelis hold towards Brussels. This is, in part, a result of three EU policies. The first is the EU’s ongoing critique against Israeli settlements and... Continue Reading →