Public Diplomacy Open Forum

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy hosted an open forum on cyber diplomacy and politics on Thursday, March 11. The forum featured J.C. Herz, a Center fellow. Herz is the author of "Joystick Nation: How Video Games Ate our Quarters, Won our Hearts and Rewired our Minds" and is a consultant for clients such as the Defense Department. She argues that video games and the internet can be powerful tools for creating international communities and for shaping foreign politics.

Herz believes that the internet has revolutionized group communication by making it possible for people in different geographical locations to meet and discuss their special interests. She said that groups have been so dynamic and interconnected that they almost seem life-like. As an example, Herz mentioned that one online game set is very popular in Asian countries. Koreans and the Japanese are able to use the internet to transcend geographical boundaries and play the game against each other.

Herz believes that these new technologies are transforming politics, war and peace negotiations. The forum stimulated discussion that perhaps is the first stirring of a new era of public diplomacy as it enters the cyber age.

-–Report by Claire Nettleton