Exploring Digital Diplomacy

The universe, as we now know, began with a bang. A big bang to be precise. A cataclysmic and cosmic explosion that at once gave birth to more than 120 billion galaxies. Digital diplomacy also began with a bang, or a momentous event that instigated a global change in the practice of diplomacy. This event, according to many scholars, was Sweden’s 2008 decision to launch a digital Embassy on the virtual world of Second Life. While it is true that the telegraph, fax and email all predate Sweden’s digital Embassy, and while all these technologies are digital, none of them ushered the current age of digital diplomacy. In retrospect, Sweden’s digital Embassy foretold how this digital age would evolve. First, Sweden never intended for its digital Embassy to replace its physical posts. Rather, the Embassy on Second Life would be used to augment Sweden’s diplomatic efforts by creating the world’s first, global Embassy accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Second, Sweden’s Embassy us..

To understand digital diplomacy, one must first understand the digital society. The reason being that diplomacy is a social institution and diplomats are social beings. Processes that affect society as a whole affect diplomats and it is through diplomats that such processes permeate into MFAs giving rise to new norms, values and working routines. Sociologists have argued that the digital society can be characterised by three main features. First, it is a society that exists in real-time. Indeed, people no longer wait for the morning’s newspaper or the evening’s newscast to learn about world events. Through social media and news sites people learn about world events as they unfold. Moreover, digital technologies render time meaningless as information and capital circle the globe within seconds while transatlantic Zoom meetings enable participants all over the world to interact in real-time. Second, the digital society is one that transforms openness and transparency into a virtue. Memb..