twitter diplomacy

With Iran and world powers close to a nuclear deal, Israel's prime minister has launched a Twitter account in Farsi to reach out to the Iranian public. [...] Netanyahu's office said Monday that the Farsi account will publish content similar to Netanyahu's English and Hebrew accounts to engage directly with the Iranian people.

Thousands have taken to Twitter as the hashtag #WalkTogether trended across London on the 10th anniversary of the London 7/7 bombings in which 52 people were killed. It urges commuters to leave their Tubes a stop early and walk, remembering the afternoon of the attack when thousands took to London’s streets as public transport network shut.

Democratic presidential underdog Martin O'Malley took a swipe Friday at front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton for mishandling the Arab Spring revolution in Libya and the subsequent deadly terrorist attack on the U.S.

October 12, 2014

NBC terrorism analyst Evan Kohlmann explains how ISIS uses social media such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to recruit young people who are sympathetic to their cause. Kohlmann describes how ISIS has surpassed groups like Al Qaeda in recruitment thanks to these outreach tools.

Digital behavior, trends, and opportunities can raise awareness of particular issues in a country. This extends well beyond, for example, simply posting a few tweets as a form of diplomacy. According to Ambassador Rudolf Bekink of the Embassy of the Netherlands, “the digital arena opens new possibilities, from one-on-one conversations to dialogues with communities.” Traditional diplomacy is still relevant, he says, “but digital diplomacy adds enormously to the capabilities of every diplomat.” 

Judith Martin, the popular American columnist better known as “Miss Manners”, advocates restraint when responding to insults: “I don't believe in answering rudeness with rudeness”, she once said in an interview. In extreme circumstances, however, – such as when a man asks a woman whether she’s expecting – Martin does permit to “defend one’s own honor.”

On his first anniversary as secretary of state on Tuesday, John Kerry celebrated by reactivating his Twitter handle. “It only took a year but @StateDept finally let me have my own @Twitter account,” Mr. Kerry tweeted with the hashtag #JKTweetsAgain, as if to suggest he had been held hostage for the last year without a BlackBerry.

DiploFoundation and Istituto Diplomatico of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs have published Twitter for Diplomats by Andreas Sandre (@andreas212nyc). It is the first publication in a series designed to analyze how social media diplomacy helps create – and maintain – a true conversation between policymakers and citizens, between diplomats and foreign public.

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