On Friday, the Hamas organization launched a five day social media campaign aimed at altering the image of the organization among Western countries. The stated goal of the twitter campaign, which allows social media followers to query Hamas leaders through the hashtag #AskHamas, was to re-brand the organization as a liberation movement rather than a... Continue Reading →
Norway’s New Engagement Model- A Much Warranted Change
Two weeks ago I published an analysis of the 2015 MFA social network. My analysis found that over the past year Norway's MFA has become one of the most dominant foreign ministries among its peers. In fact, Norway's MFA is one of only four foreign ministries to rank high on all three parameters I evaluated... Continue Reading →
The 2015 Social Network of Foreign Ministries
In May of 2014, I published my analysis of the social network of world foreign ministries (MFAs) on twitter. Through this analysis, I hoped to investigate the degree to which MFAs follow one another on social media. I was also interested in learning which world MFAs are most followed by their peers? Which MFAs are... Continue Reading →
Do MFAs Operate as Social Networks?
Public diplomacy and nation branding activities often require close cooperation between numerous stakeholders. MFAs are in a unique position to coordinate public diplomacy and nation branding efforts as they may work horizontally with other governmental branches, PR firms and corporations and vertically with their network of embassies located all over the world. In the age... Continue Reading →
The New Acronym in US-Russian Relations is MAD: Mutually Assured Delegitimization
When studying the Cold War, one cannot help feeling overwhelmed by the amount of acronyms used by both the US and the USSR. From NATO and ICBMS (Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles) to SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) and VOA (Voice of America), acronyms seem to have played a major role in this prolonged global conflict.... Continue Reading →
In Digital Diplomacy, A Narrowing Digital Divide-Part 2
By and large; the digital divide refers to inequality in access to, or ability to use, information and communication technologies. Such a divide may exist between populations and geographic areas in a given country or between countries. The global digital divide, often refers to the fact that the internet has not spread evenly throughout the... Continue Reading →
In Digital Diplomacy, A Narrowing Digital Divide-Part 1
By and large; the digital divide refers to inequality in access to, or ability to use, information and communication technologies. Such a divide may exist between populations and geographic areas in a given country or between countries. The global digital divide often refers to the fact that the internet has not spread evenly throughout the... Continue Reading →
The Social Network of Foreign Ministers on Twitter
During 2014, I began exploring digital diplomacy through social networks. I found that social networks are an effective way of analyzing digital diplomacy given that diplomats, embassies and MFAs now routinely follow one another on social media. For diplomats and diplomatic institutions, social media has become an important working tool as it enables them to gather... Continue Reading →
How Kenya’s MFA Leads By Example
2014 Summaries Over the past few weeks, many bloggers, journalists and research institutes investigating digital diplomacy have published their summaries of 2014. One such summary that attracted much attention dealt with India's digital diplomacy achievements over the past year. While some have focused on the social media activity of India's new Prime Minister and twitter celebrity Narendra... Continue Reading →
When the World Welcomed Mahmoud Abbas to Twitter
A Momentous Year in American History: 1927 would prove to be momentous year in American history. Prohibition had now entered its eighth year yet Americans were consuming more alcohol than ever. The Mississippi river had flooded bringing about one of the worst natural disasters in American history. Baseball legend Babe Ruth and the New York... Continue Reading →