Social Media & Public Diplomacy, facebook or Chatham House Rule?

In my Last Blog post "Papandreou talks about the role of Social Media in Government" I promised to write on how New and Social Media impact public diplomacy. I have been rather busy lately (haven't Blogged as much as I would like), however, in this post I want to draw your attention to a recent Facebook DC Live Event: Social Media and the World Stage, which was hosted by Facebook Washington DC.

In this Video Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Senior Innovation Adviser Alec Ross and Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel Baer talk about how people around the world have been empowered by social media.

Watch live streaming video from facebookdclive at livestream.com

I remembered Eric Schwartzman saying that there are no secrets any more, only information, that is not yet known.

So, in the age of the Internet, do you believe that the "Chatham House Rule" can be applied in New and Social Public Diplomacy?

Also, let me draw you attention to Dr Anne Marie Slaughter, Director of Policy Planning, US Department of State. She discusses the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review at the Chatham House and talks about the role of Social Media in Public Diplomacy.

In "The First Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR): Leading Through Civilian Power" there is a reference on how New and Social Media can play a role in Public diplomacy stating:

Adapting to the Diplomatic Landscape of the 21st Century

Provide diplomats with communication tools for 21st century engagement
For our personnel to engage with publics, citizens, groups, or corporations they
must have modern tools of communication and connectivity. Today, engagement
with foreign publics is increasingly virtual—whether on email or Twitter, Facebook
or Flickr. By the same token, when our diplomats work beyond embassy walls and
outside capital cities they must remain connected with the embassy and have access
to real-time information. Modern mobile communication technologies will make
our people more effective. Through the QDDR, we have set a goal of ensuring
that all State Department employees serving in locations where personal digital
assistants can be used are provided with this technology by FY2012.

Iranian elections, so what?

There has been so much press coverage on the fallout after the Iranian elections, and most of it coming from social media sources, YouTube, twitter, facebook, Blogs etc. What I don't understand is that: Did people in Iran just woke up to their reality? They are living in a totalitarian state, under the dictatorship of a religious figure (Ali Khamenei), citizens are afraid to talk openly, and always need to be anonymous in case someone from the state comes knocking at their door. So, did some people in Iran just woke up? Why did they have to wait for an election to protest and express their concerns? If the system is corrupt and biased towards the population now, then it must have been like this before the elections! I did also manage to watch some of the press conferences by the Iranian State representative, but I have not seen anything from the Mousavi campaign. Why doesn't the Mousavi campaign have a daily press briefing? Why doesn't Mousavi go on an Interview with a ...

EU - Greece - hammer and sickle

So, I traveled to Thessaloniki for the Greek Easter, and you can imagine my surprise when at the tolls just outside Athens I saw these flags by the Greek Communist Party please note the hammer and sickle symbol at the top of the flags. Now, my first reaction was total surprise! I asked myself whether this photo would be possible on any other European highway; I am now back in Vienna, Austria and it really strikes me as impossible. Also, along with the flags, there were volunteers covering all lanes, with fryers explaining the values of the communist party with the slogan "Trust the KKE in the upcoming EU elections". I must say that this is one of the first campaign moves from a Greek Political party for the upcoming European elections, scheduled between 4 and 7 of June 2009. The message was clear enough: even if you don't agree with the Communists, vote for them in the European elections to send a "message"... whatever that means... Also in the same fryers the...

Become a Member of the Conservatives and get free wine!

In a recent email to supporters, the UK Conservative Party asks people to become full members of the party in order to help shape party policies, attend party Conferences and select the Party's candidates. Also worth mentioning.. members get a free Membership card. That's all good, but then the email also offers a £40 wine voucher if you register now! WTF? As an added bonus, new Members will also get £40 off at Naked Wines . After joining online, you'll be directed to the Naked Wines website - where you'll get £40 off any case of wine worth £59.99 or more. (You must be 18 years old to take advantage. Terms and conditions apply More info about the free wine at the Conservative website here . I believe this offer from the UK conservatives is hilarious! There are so many ways to rip on this move! But as they say in their email (after ordering the free wine): join today and help shape the future of your Party and your country . I wonder if the deci...

Anonymous19 March 2012 at 19:44
If someone where to look up the definition of public diplomacy Melissen(2005) says that it targets the general public in foreign societies and more specific non-official groups, organsations and individuals. This therefore gives us an idea of the aim of public diplomacy, which then one things about the strategy and tactic of conveying this message would be. The internet is a very efficient way to do so in developed countries. The idea would be to engage further in dialogue with the people making public diplomacy interesting in identifying how the government manages to be informative and transparent with foreign publics. The talk by Dr Anne Marie Slaughter is very interesting. Was happy to listen to it.

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