The Digitalization of Public Diplomacy

Digital technologies are not simply influencing the existing practice of public diplomacy—the field itself has been fundamentally reshaped.

Oxford researcher Ilan Manor has authored a new book, The Digitzation of Public Diplomacy, out now as part of the Palgrave Macmillan Series in Global Public Diplomacy co-edited by CPD Faculty Fellows Kathy Fitzpatrick and Philip Seib.

Manor's book uses case studies to frame digitalization as a long-term process in which the values, norms, goal and aims of the field are re-thought within the context of a transformed digital society, comprising institutions, practitioners and audiences.

"When examining how digital technologies influence the practice of public diplomacy, scholars often explore how technology facilitates or disrupts diplomatic activities," writes Manor. "This book offers a different departure point by arguing that one cannot understand the influence of digital technologies on public diplomacy without first characterizing the digital society. This is because diplomats are social beings and foreign ministries are social institutions. Events and processes that impact society invariably shape diplomats and their institutions."

Read the book, The Digitzation of Public Diplomacy, from Palgrave Macmillan here.