Saturday, February 17, 2018

What is the latest diplomatic concern of the 21st century?


Quora


Efe Sevin

From where I stand as a public diplomacy scholar who looks at diplomacy as a predominantly communication process, the latest concern we have is the “bots and algorithms”Ilan Manor’s blog post provides a good summary of the discussions. There are several “pros” and “cons” in this area, including the scenarios below:
  • Technology has the potential to change the discourse very easily. Bots can imitate individual behavior (to an extent) on social media and set the agenda for public discussion.
  • Big data enables foreign representations to carry out better audience analysis.
  • Diplomacy and diplomats are getting more public exposure through social media.
  • Cyberattacks are becoming more credible threat sources.
I also believe what makes this particular area concerning is that the majority of diplomats, diplomatic services, and diplomacy services do not have the skills to cope with these changes. 

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