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John Kerry delivered his first remarks as the new U.S. Secretary of State. In his first speech at the State Department, he noted :  "...We get to talk about empowering people through our ideals, and through those ideals hopefully they can change their lives..." This is really important to underline;  given that public diplomacy now has a much more crucial role to play. In utilising new and social media, people now have the opportunity to engage through digital diplomacy.  As Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara Sonenshine has said :  "...we have to introduce more and more virtual exchanges and the use of social media particularly to reach young people where they are..." Secretary Kerry Tours the Ops Center Also, I came across a tweet from the State Department which informed that #SecKerry will be tweeting from the  +U.S. Department of State  twitter account . #SecKerry will start tweeting fr...

I came across an OSCE update on facebook asking: "Can social media help us prepare for peace?" In the new Report " Preparing for peace Communications in conflict resolution " the OSCE explains the role of Social Media in conflict resolution, detailing challenges and opportunities. OSCE/Curtis Budden Definitely recommending reading this OSCE publication. It is great that an Organization such as the OSCE is keeping active in Social Media, and at the same time "Mapping the blogosphere, reporting on negotiations, using social media to overcome divides" . Credit to the OSCE PPIS, Ireland’s 2012 OSCE Chairmanship, the US Mission to the OSCE and the Permanent Mission of Lithuania to the OSCE.  Having worked for the OSCE in 2009 , I launched the official OSCE presence on facebook and twitter , along with Issuu . It was an excellent start, and I am happy to see that the team in PPIS are keeping up with the OSCE presence in Social Media and are launc...

Credit: OSCE/Mikhail Evstafiev I strongly believe that Foreign Affairs Organizations have the opportunity to become pioneers in developing a comprehensive Digital Diplomacy and Social Media Strategy. The Internet as a whole and the different Social Media applications provide an opportunity to connect with various stakeholders, online communities, interest groups and individuals. The advantages of developing a Digital Diplomacy Strategy: To communicate the message directly to the public across the world. Without having to rely on International Media, Journalists or the Foreign Press. To harness public knowledge, share it with the world, so as to pursue national interests abroad. To maintain contact with audiences online and to utilize Social Media to listen and target important groups of individuals with key messages. To influence major online news leaders and International news agencies. To listen and gather information in order to anticipate emerging political mo...

Message by Dr. Stefanie Babst (NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy). A new initiative from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, part of a public, or better framed, digital diplomacy. As stated, the WE-NATO platform is:  "... A n interactive social media platform which will enable NATO officials to engage directly with the global public and netizens in an open and transparent dialogue on issues related to NATO’s current agenda." Although I do applaud this new communication and outreach campaign, I must say that this could have been done from the current website of the organization, without having to create a new online presence or introduce the public to a new name (WE-NATO).  At the same time, just to add a bit of constructive criticism, I must point out that throughout the website comments are encouraged,   WE want to listen to what YOU have to say!  however at the bottom of each page its states:  Comments are clos...

Credit: OSCE/Igor Schimbator In a recent article on NPR  by Michele Kelemen, one can read how Social Media have affected Public Diplomacy. The Arab spring has been used as a bedrock for people arguing about the role of the Internet in regime change and public diplomacy. It is not just Social Media, but the Internet as a whole. Some people consider Social Media to be websites such as Facebook, twitter, YouTube, flickr, Blogs and more. That is not the case. These tools are just Internet applications. The Internet as a whole is a Social Medium! Today if somebody is lying about you in the media ... we now have the tools to get the real facts out there. - Alec Ross , State Department social media adviser Alec Ross is right. However with the correct use of Social Media, one should not only get the word out, or set the record strait; but actually listen to citizens and social groups, engage with the public and create a two-way communications stream between the diplomat...

A Great initiative from the World Trade Organization! Maybe not so creative, since the  World Economic Forum  has been running Video Contests for the last Davos meetings, but still a great move from an organization that is one of the most important ones, globally. The video entry must be related to the WTO Public Forum's overall theme " Seeking Answers to Global trade Challenges ", and/or to any of the main topics that will be addressed at this year's forum. I might be entering the contest myself; it would be a great opportunity to go back to Geneva! I remember attending the WTO Public Forum in the past, and I must say that is definitely one of the most interesting fora. Also, given that WTO has started to have an active presence in Social Media, it would be rather interesting to see how people and the WTO will start interacting in this public forum. Maybe the WTO has a lot to learn from Davos in terms of Social Media engagement... however I know that is ha...

Having watched the President's speech on American Diplomacy in the Middle East & North Africa I have to say that I agree with the majority of the arguments raised. Once again, President Obama has mentioned the important role that the Internet and Social Media have played in shaping change in the Middle East and North Africa: Cell phones and social networks allow young people to connect and organize like never before. And so a new generation has emerged. And their voices tell us that change cannot be denied. Satellite television and the Internet provide a window into the wider world We will support open access to the Internet, and the right of journalists to be heard -– whether it’s a big news organization or a lone blogger. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also mentioned in her Remarks on the Release of President Obama Administration's International Strategy for Cyberspace: we seek to maximize the internet’s tremendous capacity to acceler...

I really want to commend Benjamin Netanyahu on his initiative to engage with people online. It is truly remarkable that a head of state is coming out openly and accepting questions from a global audience! The office of the Israeli PM states that: This will be a unique project since Prime Minister Netanyahu will be the first head of government to be in continuous contact will (with) websurfers, and will not suffice with isolated interviews only. ( small misprint there ) I have previously blogged on Israeli politics and social media, and the overall theme is that is clear, straightforward and open. Just like social media needs to be; especially when dealing with global political communications, or international political leaders being active in New Media. It's about being clear, honest and fully transparent. I am planning to address a question Benjamin Netanyahu soon, and hopefully he will respond. On a last note, I want to suggest a bit of housekeeping. ...

Shimon Peres & Benjamin Netanyahu, in two different occasions, talked about the role of the Internet in the recent events throughout the Middle East. Peres at a Chatham House Conference: Sixty Years of British-Israeli Diplomatic Relations (30 March 2011), and Netanyahu in a recent YouTube interview (31 March 2011). Both messages carry the same principles. Peres said: It's actually a revolt without organizers. Nobody knows who organized it. It arrived from an unknown combination of sentiments and knowledge introduced to the younger generation by modern communication, the internet, smartphones, Facebook. For the first time, young people in the Arab world could have seen with their own eyes the ugly face of dictatorship, of corruption, of want. And they could have compared their lot with the lot of other young people in the world. And ask themselves why they're not here. And actually, it is really a revolt, unorganized, spontaneous, against autocracy, against oppressi...

I've been following what is happening in Libya these days, and I am not sure why this uprising has not been hailed as a Social Media or "facebook revolution". Although this sort of tagging is mostly planted by mainstream media, I am sure that in the aftermath of the middle-east happenings there will be a lot of analysis and even research on how the Internet played a part. In one of my past posts, I wrote on " The Internet and Social Media in #Egypt, how It really matters ". Saif al-Islam Gaddafi , the son of Muammar al-Gaddafi , on a recent speech to the Libyan people (February 20th) referred to some people that want to drag Libya into: "what happened in Tunisia and in Egypt and it started by facebook, emails and twitter and in their media campaign". In an article " Libyan dictator warns against use of Facebook " Emil Protalinski confirms what Saif al-Islam Gaddafi said. So, not only citizens know how Social Media impact t...

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 ...

In a recent speech to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Athens, the Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou referenced Social and New Media and their role in Government. You can watch what Papandreou said here: Some excellent points there. I also recommend watching the speech in its entirety; a starting point in understanding Greece in current affairs. P.S. I write this post, having Blogged on " The Internet and Social Media in #Egypt, how It really matters ". There is so many information, great examples and ideas that I want to share, on how Social and New Media can play a role in not only public communications, but innovative governance and public diplomacy; I promise to write an extensive post in the near future.

I had the opportunity to be in Corfu this weekend at the informal meeting of OSCE foreign ministers . It was a great experience from any perspective, media and otherwise! This was the first informal ministerial meeting of the OSCE .  During the conference we had the opportunity, as OSCE Press and Public Information Section, to explore new ways to link with the media and the general public utilizing the twitter and facebook accounts of the OSCE. For the scale of the event we did manage to stream the event live and have multimedia (audio and video) of the opening and closing statements and a great photo gallery ! I believe that the most important thing is that we learned so much in preparation for the Formal Ministerial Council in Athens in December 2009.  One of the suggestions is to project the OSCE twitter to the Press Center, so as journalists, reporters, media people and volunteers to keep up to date with schedule, press center and pool updates, media appeara...