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The Crimean Crisis has been regarded as a turning point in the relationship between Western Europe and Russia. The Crisis, which burst onto the scene in December of 2013, saw strongly worded tweets followed by troop convoys, financial sanctions and the expulsion of diplomats. In the wake of the Crisis, governments in Western Europe came... 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 →
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the International Communication Association's 68th Annual Conference in Prague. My presentation focused on the digital and public diplomacy activities of the Palestinian government in the West Bank, specifically it's Facebook Embassy to Israel. While presenting my work I mentioned that unlike other virtual Embassies, Palestine's Facebook Embassy... 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 →
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 →
(The following is an address made at the 2018 Warwick Student Congress) American poet Allen Ginsburg opens his masterpiece Howl with the lines I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly... Continue Reading →
The Challenge of Digital Diplomacy I often say that like Woody Allen, I was born into the Hebrew faith but later in life converted to pessimism. And indeed, I often have a pessimistic view of digital diplomacy. Yet I recently attended a conference in The Hague that filled me with optimism as more and more... Continue Reading →
Exploring Digital Diplomacy 