Much excitement surrounds diplomatic neologisms such as e-diplomacy, digital diplomacy and even virtual diplomacy. This article reviews existing writing on the subject, with special focus on some of the ‘first movers’ in the new wave of information and communication technology (ict)-enabled diplomacy, namely the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. On this basis, the article suggests a rough typology of ict-enabled diplomacy, ranging from (new) public diplomacy to more advanced forms of digital diplomacy. The article subsequently explores a number of empirical examples of advanced forms of digital diplomacy — that is, ict-enabled diplomatic practices that are not necessarily grounded in a specific time and physical space. The article offers a few concluding thoughts on the possibilities and limits of digital diplomacy.
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Corneliu Bjola and Marcus Holmes (eds.), Digital Diplomacy: Theory and Practice (London: Routledge, 2015); David Bollier, ‘The Rise of Netpolitik: How the Internet is Changing International Politics and Diplomacy’, A Report of the Eleventh Annual Aspen Institute Roundtable on Information Technology (Washington, dc: Aspen Institute, 2003); Daryl Copeland, ‘Virtuality, Diplomacy, and the Foreign Ministry: Does Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada Need a “V Tower”?’, Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, vol. 15, no. 2 (2009), pp. 1-15; Richard Grant, ‘The Democratization of Diplomacy: Negotiating with the Internet’, Oxford Internet Institute, 2005, available online at www.oii.ox.ac.uk; Ellen Hallams, ‘Digital Diplomacy: The Internet, the Battle for Ideas and us Foreign Policy’, CEU Political Science Journal, vol. 4 (2010), pp. 538-574; Fergus Hanson, ‘Revolution @State: The Spread of eDiplomacy’ (Sydney, nsw: Lowy Institute, March 2012); Brian Hocking and Jan Melissen, Diplomacy in the Digital Age (The Hague: Clingendael Institute, 2015); Shanthi Kalathil, ‘Adapting for the Global Diplomatic Arena’, A Report of the Annual Aspen Institute Dialogue on Diplomacy and Technology (Washington, dc: Aspen Institute, 2014); Roland Paris, ‘The Digital Diplomacy Revolution: Why Is Canada Lagging Behind’, Policy Paper (Ottawa, on: Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, 2013); Gordon S. Smith, ‘Reinventing Diplomacy: A Virtual Necessity’, United States Institute of Peace (25 February 1999); Alec Ross, ‘Digital Diplomacy and us Foreign Policy’, in Paul Sharp and Geoffrey Wiseman (eds.), American Diplomacy (Leiden: Brill, 2012), pp. 217-233; and Nicholas Westcott, ‘Digital Diplomacy: The Impact of the Internet on International Relations’, Research Report 16 (Oxford: Oxford Internet Institute, 2008).
Thomas Friedman, The World Is Flat (New York: Macmillan, 2005).
Jesse Lichtenstein, ‘Digital Diplomacy’, The New York Times (18 July 2010); and Jamie Metzl, ‘Network Diplomacy’, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (winter/spring 2001), Op-Ed (1 April 2001).
Nicholas Cull, The Decline and Fall of the United States Information Agency (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012).
See also Bátora, Foreign Ministries and the Information Revolution, p. 11.
See Copeland, ‘Digital Technology’, p. 466, note 2. See also Bátora, Foreign Ministries and the Information Revolution.
Nicholas Griffin, Ping-Pong Diplomacy: The Secret History behind the Game that Changed the World (New York: Scribner, 2014).
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, The FCO Digital Strategy, p. 2.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, The FCO Digital Strategy, p. 2.
Copeland, ‘Virtuality, Diplomacy, and the Foreign Ministry’, p. 2. See also Daryl Copeland, ‘Connectivity and Networks Rule: Virtuality, Public Diplomacy and the Foreign Ministry’, USC Center on Public Diplomacy Blog (26 November 2008), available online at www.uscpublicdiplomacy.org (accessed 2 March 2015).
Copeland, ‘Virtuality, Diplomacy, and the Foreign Ministry’, p. 4.
Copeland, ‘Virtuality, Diplomacy, and the Foreign Ministry’, pp. 12-13.
Copeland, ‘Virtuality, Diplomacy, and the Foreign Ministry’, p. 13.
Copeland, ‘Virtuality, Diplomacy, and the Foreign Ministry’, pp. 16-17; and Copeland, ‘Digital Technology’.
C. Martin and L. Jagla, ‘Integrating Diplomacy and Social Media’, A Report on the First Annual Aspen Institute Dialogue on Diplomacy and Technology (Washington, dc: Aspen Institute, 2013).
Jesse Lichtenstein, ‘Digital Diplomacy’, The New York Times (18 July 2010).
Charles Martin-Shields, ‘The Technologist’s Dilemma: Ethical Challenges of Using Crowdsourcing Technology in Conflict and Disaster-Affected Regions’, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, vol. 14, no. 2 (summer/fall 2013), pp. 157-163.
Fergus Hanson, ‘Baked and Wired: eDiplomacy@State’, Brookings (25 October 2012), available online at http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2012/10/25-ediplomacy-hanson (accessed 2 April 2015); and Bátora, Foreign Ministries and the Information Revolution.
See Hanson, ‘A Digital DFAT’; and especially Hanson, ‘Revolution @State’ for a more detailed overview. See also Richard Boly, ‘Putting Social Media to Work at State’, The Washington Post (26 July 2012).
N. Cohen, ‘Learning to Love eDiplomacy’, International Herald Tribune (4 August 2008).
See Foreign and Commonwealth Office, The FCO Digital Strategy, p. 25.
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Much excitement surrounds diplomatic neologisms such as e-diplomacy, digital diplomacy and even virtual diplomacy. This article reviews existing writing on the subject, with special focus on some of the ‘first movers’ in the new wave of information and communication technology (ict)-enabled diplomacy, namely the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. On this basis, the article suggests a rough typology of ict-enabled diplomacy, ranging from (new) public diplomacy to more advanced forms of digital diplomacy. The article subsequently explores a number of empirical examples of advanced forms of digital diplomacy — that is, ict-enabled diplomatic practices that are not necessarily grounded in a specific time and physical space. The article offers a few concluding thoughts on the possibilities and limits of digital diplomacy.
All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 1051 | 227 | 20 |
Full Text Views | 372 | 22 | 1 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 221 | 70 | 5 |