States should use the increasing power of social media networks and work with them to achieve foreign policy objectives. [...] However, there is much more room for states to cooperate with social media rather than seeing it as an enemy. Instead, there are ample opportunities to use social media’s features, low costs and high effectiveness as tools to promote a state’s foreign policy objectives.

Which would you rather look at? Pictures of war, conflict and violence - or hot guys eating hummus? Four students from the IDC in Herzliya are counting on you choosing the latter. That premise was the idea behind the hottest new Instagram account around: “Hot Dudes Eating Hummus.” [...] “The four of us wanted to create an apolitical branding campaign for Israel to shed some light on the humor, diversity, fun, beauty, and culture that are so vibrant and rich in this country,” 

US authorities and Internet giants are boosting attempts to counter the Islamic State group’s online propaganda, though it is unclear how effective these efforts are in hampering the jihadists’ public-relations machine.

Nevertheless, Indonesia’s coffee export volume is projected to rise this year — which is timely given rising global demand amid volatility of supply. But such ignorance in the US market could eventually undermine Indonesia’s integrity and credibility as one of the largest coffee exporters to the US and the world’s fourth-largest coffee producer. It is a serious wake-up call for all of us to solidify Indonesia’s brand in the world coffee industry.

Digital diplomacy is the use of internet and new information communication technologies to help achieve diplomatic objectives. [...] On this side of the globe, India is leading the way on digital diplomacy. Despite a modest budget in public diplomacy, India’s ministry of external affairs’ Facebook page with more than 1.2 million followers has come second only to the US state department among foreign ministries in the world. 

Albertans have been reading and watching with disbelief the incredible devastation brought by wildfires in Fort McMurray. But while all of us are viewing the destruction and mass evacuations with sympathy, most have no real understanding of their plight. [...] Syrian refugees well understand what those in Fort McMurray are going through. Remarkably, these same people who landed in our province mere months ago are stepping up to aid the wildfire victims

It was a small blip on television news screens at the end of April. Reports of the death of Mohammad Shafi Armar, the head recruiter of the Islamic State (IS) in India, in a U.S. drone strike in Syria, got buried in the din of India’s domestic news. [...] The spate of arrests of Indian sympathizers this year alone has proved that ‘Brand ISIS’ has found its foothold in India.