What’s So Awful About Foreign Interference?0

• "Classic " Diplomacy, Public diplomacy
• 23rd October 2019

The idea that our “democracy” is under attack by foreign adversaries rings hollow to anyone who thinks about it for more than a second or two, or rather it should. The reason is obvious: we don’t have a democracy to attack. What we have are more or less – generally less — democratic elections. For

How Diplomats Can Combat Digital Propaganda0

• "Classic " Diplomacy, Public diplomacy
• 22nd June 2019

James Pamment has written that for most of the 20th century the term public diplomacy was associated with the term propaganda. According to the Oxford Dictionary propaganda relates to information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view. During the 21st century, the field of public diplomacy faced a conceptual shift known as the “new” public diplomacy. This shift saw the goals of public diplomacy change from influence and opinion formation to creating long lasting relationships with foreign populations. These relationships, built on dialogue and two way interactions, could be used to create a receptive environment for a country’s foreign policy.

Digitalization promised to facilitate the transition towards the “new” public diplomacy and away from propaganda as digital platforms could be used to converse and create relationships with foreign publics. Social media were especially seen as beneficial to the “new” public diplomacy as t..