Redefining Digital Diplomacy: Modelling Business Diplomacy by Internet Companies in China
In: The Hague Journal of DiplomacySearch for other papers by Sarah Myers West in
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This article develops a conceptual framework for analyzing the international activities of internet companies. It focuses specifically on the question of whether internet companies’ activities are examples of business diplomacy, by examining cases of conflict between corporate actors and the Chinese government and their negotiations under a divided set of loyalties. In so doing, the article seeks to re-examine notions of sovereignty as applied to cyberspace, and to engage in a conceptual discussion of critical issues on the role of business diplomacy in the internet governance debate. Ultimately, it argues that while their activities are more commercial than diplomatic on the whole, internet companies cannot be neutral actors outside of international politics. The article thus makes a case for greater engagement by companies in business diplomacy on a country-to-country basis.
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1
See Jovan Kurbalaija, An Introduction to Internet Diplomacy (Msida, Malta: DiploFoundation, 2012).
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2
Josh Constine, ‘Facebook Beats in Q2 with $2.91 Billion in Revenue, 62% of Ad Revenue from 1.32B Users’, TechCrunch, 23 July 2014, available online at http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/23/facebook-q2-2014-earnings/.
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Christina Archetti, ‘The Impact of New Media on Diplomatic Practice: An Evolutionary Model of Change’, The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 7, 2012, pp. 181-206.
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8
Saner, Yiu and Sondergaard, ‘Business Diplomacy Management’, p. 302.
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9
Saner, Yiu and Sondergaard, ‘Business Diplomacy Management’, p. 303.
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10
James P. Muldoon, ‘The Diplomacy of Business’, Diplomacy & Statecraft, vol. 16, no. 2, 2005, p. 347.
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11
Richard Langhorne, ‘The Diplomacy of Non-State Actors’, Diplomacy & Statecraft, vol. 16, 2005, no. 2, p. 337.
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Richard Milne, ‘The Corporate Diplomats’, The Financial Times, 23 November 2009, available online at http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8f03208e-d86a-11de-b63a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1quPO5Lr9.
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16
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17
Alan Henrikson, ‘Diplomacy’s Possible Futures’, The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 1, 2005, pp. 3-27.
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18
Enric Ordeix-Rigo and Joao Duarte, ‘From Public Diplomacy to Business Diplomacy: Increasing Corporation’s Legitimacy and Influence’, American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 53, no. 4, 2009, p. 555.
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19
Niall Ferguson, ‘Think Again: Power’, Foreign Policy, January/February 2003.
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20
‘Jan 31, 1990: First McDonald’s opens in Soviet Union’, This Day in History, available online at http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-mcdonalds-opens-in-soviet-union.
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24
Evgeny Morozov, ‘High-Tech Diplomacy’, Newsweek, 28 September 2009.
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31
Ben Elgin, ‘The Web and China: Not So Simple’, Bloomberg Businessweek. 15 February 2006, available online at http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2006/tc20060215_060300.htm.
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35
Corey Boles, ‘Yahoo’s Lashing Highlights Risks of China Market’. Wall Street Journal, 7 November 2007, available online at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119436469294284018.html.
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39
Karen Wickre, ‘Testimony: The Internet in China’, Google Official Blog, 15 February 2006, available online at http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/02/testimony-internet-in-china.html.
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Lev Grossman, ‘Google Under the Gun’, Time, 5 February 2006, available online at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1156598,00.html.
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Steven Levy, ‘Google and the China Syndrome: The Businesses Know that Building Censorship into their Search Engines Violates their Principles’, Newsweek, 13 February 2006, available online at http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2006/02/12/google-and-the-china-syndrome.html.
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Amir Efrati and Siobhan Gorman, ‘Google Mail Hack Blamed on China’, Wall Street Journal, 2 June 2011, available online at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303657404576359770243517568.html.
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Peter Ford, ‘Can Facebook and China be Friends?’ Christian Science Monitor, 3 February 2012, available online at http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2012/0203/Can-Facebook-and-China-be-friends.
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52
John Boudreau, ‘Culture Clash at Heart of Facebook’s China Problem’, Siliconvalley.com, 10 July 2011, available online at http://www.siliconvalley.com/sv2020/ci_18450897?source=rss.
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Cheryl Isaac, ‘Facebook Courting China? Why American Tech Entrepreneurs Avoid China’, Forbes.com, 5 April 2012, available online at http://www.forbes.com/sites/worldviews/2012/04/05/facebook-courting-china-why-business-will-be-difficult-for-american-tech-entrepreneurs-in-china/.
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Carrie Kirby, ‘Free Internet vs. Free Speech’, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 September 2005, available online at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/18/MNGDUEPNLA1.DTL&ao=all.
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62
Adam Clark Estes, ‘Signs that Facebook is Acting Like a Sovereign Nation’, The Atlantic Wire, 24 May 2011, available online at http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/05/signs-facebook-acting-like-sovereign-nation/38103/.
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Redefining Digital Diplomacy: Modelling Business Diplomacy by Internet Companies in China
In: The Hague Journal of DiplomacySearch for other papers by Sarah Myers West in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
This article develops a conceptual framework for analyzing the international activities of internet companies. It focuses specifically on the question of whether internet companies’ activities are examples of business diplomacy, by examining cases of conflict between corporate actors and the Chinese government and their negotiations under a divided set of loyalties. In so doing, the article seeks to re-examine notions of sovereignty as applied to cyberspace, and to engage in a conceptual discussion of critical issues on the role of business diplomacy in the internet governance debate. Ultimately, it argues that while their activities are more commercial than diplomatic on the whole, internet companies cannot be neutral actors outside of international politics. The article thus makes a case for greater engagement by companies in business diplomacy on a country-to-country basis.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 699 | 121 | 1 |
| Full Text Views | 190 | 7 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 82 | 15 | 0 |