Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week – How Silicon Valley’s Russia crackdown proves its power – and its threat (The Guardian)Using Cyber Tool, Westerners Have Been Texting Russians About the War in Ukraine (Wall Street Journal)Ukraine: Spam... Continue Reading →
A War of Digital Firsts
The War in Ukraine has been substantially impacted by digital technologies. In fact, it has been a war of many digital firsts, and there is little doubt that Ukraine’s innovative use of digital technologies will alter the nature of modern conflict. Ukraine’s approach during the war has not rested on employing new technologies but, rather,... Continue Reading →
Monday’s Must Read List
Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week – Twitter Accounts Sharing Video From Ukraine Are Suspended When They’re Needed Most (The Verge)Russia Launches Social Media Offensive Alongside Missiles (Foreign Policy)Ukraine’s Volunteer ‘IT Army’ Is Hacking in Uncharted Territory... Continue Reading →
Digital Diplomacy in #Ukraine- A Case of Strategic Transparency
The age of social media is the age of total transparency. Studies have found that the more personal a tweet or Facebook post, the more a user bares his soul, the more Likes they will garner. And as social media users wish to be seen and Liked, they become accustomed to sharing all facets of... Continue Reading →
How Digital Diplomacy is Shaping the #Ukraine Crisis
Digital diplomacy is not a new phenomenon. Beginning in the 1990s, foreign ministries (MFAs) sought to adopt and leverage digital technologies. In some cases, this was as rudimentary as using emails as opposed to diplomatic cables or creating intranets, internal networks that enabled diplomats to share information and knowledge with peers. By the early 2000’s,... Continue Reading →
Monday’s Must Read List
Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week – What on Earth is Happening in Ukraine (The Jerusalem Post)Truth Social: Banned from Twitter, Trump returns with a new platform (BBC News)What's the Most Dangerous Emerging Technology? (Gizmodo)How big technology systems... Continue Reading →
Will Digital Diplomacy Lead to the Extinction of Diplomats?
Dead Clade Walking. These three words shook the foundations of the scientific world several years ago. It relates to a theory which argues that some Dinosaurs survived the asteroid impact which triggered their extinction. Notably, the Dead Clade Walking theory did not argue that extinction did not occur, but rather that some Dinosaurs survived the... Continue Reading →
Are Consular Tweets a New Form of Crisis Signaling?
When scholars and pundits discuss digital diplomacy, they tend to equate this term with social media activities. Indeed, the majority of digital diplomacy studies have focused on how and why social media is used by foreign ministries (MFAs), embassies, Ambassadors and International Organisations. Studies have explored the numerous ways in which states use sites such... Continue Reading →
ISA/ICA Soft Power Debate
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 →
The Training Disconnect: How to Prepare Diplomats for the Digital Age
The adoption of digital technologies by diplomats has had a profound impact on the working routines of ministries of foreign affairs (MFAs). Specifically, digital technologies have had a temporal and spatial effect on diplomacy. The speed with which news travels online has reduced the response time of diplomats. Those wishing to comment on world events... Continue Reading →