Far from being rendered irrelevant by technological progress, where governments can communicate with one another directly on a need-to basis, diplomacy has become an increasingly critical instrument in an age of interdependence and globalisation. Responding to the ever-changing world around it, diplomacy has evolved and adopted new tools and techniques to respond to the new demands and expectations.

But this week, some journalists over at the Agence France Presse have put together a neat interactive online tool, called E-Diplomacy, that shows which countries follow which others, how much social discussion is going on between various countries, diplomats, and world thinkers.

The presence and power of social networks to shape events emerged clearly during the first phase of the Arab Spring, and will continue to evolve as a tool for strategic diplomacy... The e-diplomacy hub opens a real-time window onto this world, and allows the user to interact with it as well.

We encourage the use of social media. We encourage athletes to engage and to connect," Hout said. "There are some rules to follow, there's no question about it. But we don't police the fans, we don't police the athletes. We don't do that. What we do is we engage.

Far from being rendered irrelevant by technological progress, where governments can communicate with one another directly on a need-to basis, diplomacy has become an increasingly critical instrument in an age of interdependence and globalization.

Trending on Twitter is a big deal—and the @Sweden experiment has been doing just that. It started as a government-backed venture to promote, through Twitter, a new, exciting, and diverse image of Sweden worldwide. Since its inception, @Sweden has spurred a tweeting trend that’s achieving global reach, dubbed Rotation Curation by its founders.

Chances of embarrassment are unusually high when you are @Sweden, the nation’s official Twitter spokesperson...If there is anything to be learned from the @Sweden experiment, a government initiative that entrusts the country’s Twitter account to a new citizen every seven days, it is that there is no such thing as a typical Swede.

Why did you join Twitter? .... I’m interested in the public diplomacy aspect of your job. I come to this job at a crucial juncture in the relationship between Israel and the United States. We face great challenges in getting our message across.