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Last week, Molly McCluskey published an article in the Washington diplomat dealing with Swiss digital diplomacy in Washington D.C. According to the article, the new Swiss ambassador to Washington has deiced to place a greater emphasis on the embassy's digital outreach. The article caused me to contemplate the benefits of Ambassadors tweeting on their own... Continue Reading →
On Tuesday, the White House launched a new twitter channel (@TheIranDeal) in an attempt to bolster domestic and international support for the agreement reached between the P5+1 and Iran regarding the latter's nuclear weapons program. According to Politico, this is the first time the Obama administration has launched an issue specific twitter handle. US officials... Continue Reading →
The US and LGBT rights On the 26th of June 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that the country's constitution guarantees the right to same-sex marriage thereby legalizing gay marriage across the United States. The ruling, seen as a major achievement for LGBT activist around the world, had both domestic and global implications. In recent... Continue Reading →
On the 7th of May 2014, the First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama uploaded a Selfie of herself holding a sign saying "#BringBackOurGilrs" onto her twitter account. The Selfie was part of social media campaign calling for the release of 250 Nigerian school girls taken captive by the Islamist Boko Hraam group. https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/464148654354628608/photo/1... Continue Reading →
On the 22nd of January 2014, world leaders met at the city of Geneva in Switzerland in an attempt to resolve the Syrian Civil War. Nearly one year later, in April of 2015, world leaders convened 64 kilometers northeast of Geneva, in the city of Lausanne, in an attempt to resolve another Mideast crisis- Iran's... Continue Reading →
Digital diplomacy may be viewed as a multi-faceted form of diplomacy. As a tool for public diplomacy, it may be used to communicate directly with foreign populations thereby facilitating the acceptance of one's foreign policy. As a nation branding tool, it may be used to shape and manage a nation's global image. Digital diplomacy may also... Continue Reading →
Framing theory deals with the manner in which issues, events, and actors are portrayed in a communicative text. Framing studies often focus on mass media frames given the assumption that the media influences public opinion. Robert Entman views framing as the result of selection and emphasis. To frame, according to Entman, is "to select... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
I have often wondered if a foreign ministry's decision to follow another foreign ministry on twitter or Facebook is regarded as a political decision. In attempt to answer this question, I decided to search for "follow-mies", countries that are enemies in the go-political world but that follow one another on twitter. This was made possible... Continue Reading →
Exploring Digital Diplomacy 