Cyberdiplomacy and Information Society
Preliminary requirements:
basic knowledge of theories of communication
Course Description:
1. Introduction to the course
2. Information society and network society.
3. Technological determinism. Information and social change.
4. New media and foreign ministries, how do foreign ministries adjust to information revolution? Public diplomacy 2.0.
5. New media as a tool for international PR and country branding.
6. Social media and social change. The case of Arab revolution.
7. Wikileaks- a new player in global information network?
8. Towards e-diplomacy, network diplomacy, virtual diplomacy or cyber diplomacy?
9. Final meeting, assessment and feedback.
Aims of the course:
Student describes how new media are used as a tool of communication in contemporary international relations.
Student explains how the theory of network society may be used to analyse the contemporary diplomacy and international relations.
Student proposes his/her own definition of e-diplomacy, cyberdiplomacy, virtual diplomacy and network diplomacy.
Student compares different patterns of institutional adaptation of foreign ministries and diplomatic missions to new media environment.
Student explains the impact of technology on international relations in general and diplomacy in particular.
Student differentiates between traditional and modern forms of policymaking.
Student provides a short comment/review concerning forms of communication used in diplomacy.
Student gives a presentation/delivers a paper on a given topic.
Student actively and creatively participates in team work.
Student presents a critical approach to deterministic views and defends his/her point of view.
Teaching methods:
text analysis, discussion, case studies, group work, essay, presentation
Evaluation & Completion:
Class participation - 30%
Collaborative project (minimum 5 blog entries during the semester) - 40%
Presentation - 30%
Minimum pass score: 60%
Basic Literature:
Batora J., Foreign Ministries and the Information Revolution. Going Virtual? Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2008.
Castells M., The rise of the network society, Blackwell Publishers 2000.
Cyber-Diplomacy. Managing Foreign Policy in the Twenty-first Century, ed. E. H. Potter, McGill-Queen's University Press 2002.
Hanson E. C., The Information Revolution and World Politics, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers 2008.
Additional Literature:
van Doeveren, R, Engaging the Arab World through Social Diplomacy, Clingendael Paper No. 4, 2011.
Ghannam J. Social Media in the Arab World: Leading up to the Uprisings of 2011. A report to Center of International Media Assistance, February 2011.
Kurbalija J., The World Summit on Information Society and the Development of Internet Diplomacy [In:] Global Governance and Diplomacy. Worlds Apart?, ed. by A.F. Cooper, B. Hocking, W. Maley, Palgrave, McMillan 2008.
Xiguang L., Jing W., Web-based public diplomacy. The role of social media in the Iranian and Xinjiang riots [In:] The Journal of International Communication, 16, 2010, pp. 7-22.
Latar N.L., Asmolov G., Gekker A., State Cyber Advocacy, Herzliya Working Paper 2010.
