Real-Time Diplomacy : Politics and Power in the Social Media Era

In light of the events of 2011, Real-Time Diplomacy examines how diplomacy has evolved as media have gradually reduced the time available to policy makers. It analyzes the workings of real-time diplomacy and the opportunities for media-centered diplomacy programs that bypass governments and directly engage foreign citizens. Real-Time Diplomacy explores the media's role in the process of political change. As a backdrop to the events of 2011, this book examines how diplomacy has evolved as media have gradually reduced the time available to policy makers. It analyzes the workings of real-time diplomacy and the opportunities for media-centered diplomacy programs that bypass governments and directly engage foreign citizens. The book also discusses the ways that lessons from recent electoral campaigns - such as Barack Obama's use of social media in his 2008 presidential race - are applicable to emerging democracies around the world. Also examined are the root causes of the public anger that led to revolution: the social inequities, out-of-touch autocrats, repressive tactics, and other factors that were the tinder set afire by media's sparks The 2011 uprisings in the Middle East proved that democracy retains its appeal, even to people who have long lived without it. They also illustrated how, in a high-speed, media-centric world, conventional diplomacy has become an anachronism. Not only do events move quickly, but so too does public reaction to those events. The cushion of time that enabled policymakers to judiciously gather information and weigh alternatives is gone. Real-Time Diplomacy analyzes the essential, but often unhappy, marriage between diplomacy and new media, evaluating media's reach and influence, and determining how policymakers might take advantage of media's real-time capabilities rather than being driven by them. Book jacket
The 2011 uprisings in the Middle East proved that democracy retains its appeal, even to people who have long lived without it. They also illustrated how, in a high-speed, media-centric world, conventional diplomacy has become an anachronism. Not only do events move quickly, but so too does public reaction to those events. The cushion of time that enabled policymakers to judiciously gather information and weigh alternatives is gone. Real-Time Diplomacy analyzes the essential, but often unhappy, marriage between diplomacy and new media, evaluating media's reach and influence, and determining how policy makers might take advantage of media's real-time capabilities rather than being driven by them. Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction....Pages 1-12 Front Matter....Pages 13-13 The Political Revolution....Pages 15-40 The Media Revolution....Pages 41-64 Front Matter....Pages 65-65 Traditional Diplomacy and the Cushion of Time....Pages 67-86 The Arrival of Rapid-Reaction Diplomacy....Pages 87-104 The Expeditionary Diplomat and the Case For Public Diplomacy....Pages 105-122 Front Matter....Pages 123-123 The Promise of Networks....Pages 125-141 Ripple Effects....Pages 143-155 Looking Ahead....Pages 157-170 Afterword....Pages 171-174 Back Matter....Pages 175-199