The revolution in information and communications technologies: impact on foreign ministries and diplomatic practice - Essay Example

? The revolution in information and communications technologies: impact on foreign ministries and diplomatic practice Introduction The role of foreign ministries and diplomats has become even more important in the present day and age with new and complex international conflicts surfacing with every passing day. But the general opinion held by researchers and analysts is that they are under performing and need to be more effective. The advent of globalization has brought in new conflicts and challenges for diplomats, which they have not tackled with desirable results. This has led to a negative image about diplomats and it is believed that their decisions and actions are restricted by protocol. 1 Recently diplomacy and similar institutions have seen their resources as the policy making duties have passed on to other players, such as the department of defense, the private sector and other government agencies. With time the influence on foreign polices has moved upwards and the role of foreign ministries has become more reactive than proactive, responding mainly to external demands. A positive strategy for successful navigation is lacking and steps should be taken to rectify this.2 Since the inception of the Internet took place in the early parts of 1990s, it has provided with advanced means of communication. Today, Internet provides a chance to enhance social network, share information, download audio and video and stay up to date with the current events from all around the world. In just a decade the Internet has shifted from web 1.0 to web 3.0. This progress should be utilized and it is about time that the diplomats and foreign ministries get along with this program. 3 In these uncertain times, foreign ministries are trying to develop a direct relation with public across borders and both new and traditional mediums of communication should be used. Far-gone are the days of reliance conventional methods; researchers feel that stability can only be achieved by the revolutionary information and communication technologies. And this document will analyze the impact of this advancement in technologies on the diplomatic practice. The change in View Public Diplomacy policies are supposed to represent the ideas and cultural values of the public at the international level. These policies aim to bring a diversified audience together. Researchers believe that foreign ministries cannot truly succeed until various origins voice their concerns, and contradictions are accounted for. Theorists state that the best method of giving a voice to these people would be through science and technology. Researchers back this deduction by highlighting the importance of scientific exchanges during the period of the Cold War. At the time this was not really considered as a step towards public diplomacy, but international science and technology did indeed play a very vital role during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and America.4 In the modern era, science and technology have generally focused on defense related issues. But another element of science and technology is the usage of information and communications technology as well as the new media by the foreign ministries. This change, after the Cold War, did take some time to emerge the diplomatic community of today is adopting the new technological developments. For instance, UK and American Ambassadors can be seen blogging; interactive Q&A sessions are being held on the web and connect with international audience as well. Furthermore field officers have been issued cellular phones such as Blackberries in an attempt keep constant access with them and establish a concept of distance learning. 5 But the most telling factor is that 85% of the world has access to the Internet. This means that a large (in many cases all) proportation of the target audience the diplomats want access to are conveniently available to them. As now any message can be transmitted from one corner of the globe to another in a matter of seconds. For these reasons theorists have deduced that this trend will continue to increase and shape up the future of diplomacy. Positive Impact There is a growing realization among researchers that advancement in information and communication technology has indeed made an impact on how diplomacy is practiced in today’s world. They have come up with three different models by which the new communication method has affected foreign ministries, either in a positive manner or negatively. They are ‘media diplomacy’, in which policy makers and other officials utilize media to resolve issues and conflicts; ‘public diplomacy’, where non-state influence international public through the media; ‘media-broker policy’, journalists take up the role of mediators to promote conflict resolution.6 First of all, the growing popularity of public diplomacy has contributed a lot to the cause of improved communication between countries all around the world. This change was brought about after the 9/11 incident and many American scholars insisted that the misunderstanding persisting in the gulf and other areas should be addressed, as they were the primary cause of extremism against the west, especially America and some European countries, in the Muslims countries around the globe. The media diplomacy is being used to base the foundation for foreign policies among other processes. In some cases foreign ministers can initiate diplomatic negotiations through the media. According to Davison, diplomats always used media as a tool. He states “each diplomat who was interviewed was asked to list the news sources he usually followed. So many sources were mentioned by the first few respondents that the investigator became skeptical of the claims. Therefore, prior to later interviews, he purchased a number of papers at newsstands in order to be able to inquire about specific news items. The claims appear to be valid. In no case did a diplomat prove to be ignorant about the contents of the paper that he mentioned as a regular source”7 But the high consumption level of the media is not due to the availability of information. This information is also accurate and opinionated. In the media-broker policy concept, journalists would focus on an issue, would present it in an objective or in some cases a biased way. Highlighting these issues is enough for the diplomats and foreign ministers to take action to remedy the situation. The other option is to stand firm against the media assault, which no one cherishes and chooses. The constraints associated with capacity limitation are no longer a barrier. Public diplomats and foreign ministers are finding new and creative ways to connect with the public directly. This has also loosened the need for high security consideration for these individuals. As now, the personal contact has become very minimal. One of the many changes brought in by the Information Technology and Communication (ITC), providing the facility of ‘virtual desks’. The United States of America has utilized this facility very well. These ‘virtual desks’, are placed in different geographic locations. For example a ‘desk’ placed in China would connect with its neighbor links in south and central Asia. New networks are formed which are not restricted to a single foreign ministry. And the minister in China can be directly connected with the minister and people of Turkey. Besides changing the dynamics of the public diplomacy, the virtual desk model, also caters to horizontal issue management. This, in effect, has improved the overall performance of agencies and bureau across the planet. And the management of challenges such as shortage of resources, energy supply issues to name a few has become more efficient.8 Challenges These three ideologies have benefited the foreign ministers but have imposed some challenges on them as well. One of them is that diplomats today are expected to react quicker than in the old days. An Indian diplomat was asked about the pressures and timeline for responding to international situations, he replied by saying that diplomats are overwhelmed with a series of events taking place on a daily basis. This gives the diplomats not enough time to think the matter through. And in most occasions their response does not consider thinking for the future but to diffuse the situation as promptly as possible. But the diplomat also concluded that technology has been helpful in gathering of information and also with communication with home country. So it has worked both ways. 9 Another challenge faced is that ministers and diplomatic policies are made in response to media coverage and not on the basis of the real problem that exists. They are tasked to respond to perceptions of the general public of the situation rather than responding to what is really happening. For example, if the media shows that china and Japan are prepared to rage war against each other, a diplomat would respond by saying that they are doing their best to bring peace between the two neighbours, even though in reality may be aware that China and Japan are in good terms with each other. Pressure is now on them to respond to information that is perceived by the public and the government. A German diplomat stated that “you have to react to the world that is created by the media and the world in which our politicians live; not the real world. So forget about specialist thinking.”10 Another challenge faced by diplomats is choosing amongst the various amounts of information and the increasing diversity of the events taking place. Communication between political leaders of countries has become easier with the new technological developments but this has resulted in the leaders investing less time to diplomacy and has increased the work load of foreign ministers. A Japanese diplomat said about the issue that diplomats work in the background to achieve negotiations, treaties and summits. They have to consider both the domestic and foreign policies. He concluded that the job of a diplomat nowadays is more important and diverse than ever before. This ideology is still not implemented in most parts of the world but the foreign ministries that are showing interest in these methods have reaped rewards. Dues to the network-centric nature of today’s world, this medium has provided the best means to communicate with the international society. This trend has established the concept of e-diplomacy, which have increased the number of resources than ever before. Popularity of a decision made or an individual can be judged through the number of ‘clicks’.11 This is a phenomenon which is gaining popularity due to its need but still using the Internet to engage with the general public is not adopted by most diplomats. Mostly this trend can be seen in third world countries. Foreign minister from these countries are concerned by the possibility of a cultural clash taking place and that might give rise to new problems, as the content and traffic on the Internet is largely unmediated. Their other concerns include the unpredictable response of the public to this fast flow of information and a small fraction don not really comprehend the advantages of the new media and have abstained from using it. Lastly, many governments, it should be added, are not yet ready to cede centralized control over communications and policy development. The Variation of Opinion Diplomats and Foreign ministers have taken advantage from the new environment created by the science and communication progress. But diplomats are always striving to benefit their own cause (country) and not really concerned about the other diplomatic actors in the mix. Even if two ministers from different countries are operating in the same physical space for the same cause, they might still not see eye to eye with each other. This factor is based on multiple reasons which include the access of the media, political opportunities and social contacts. Depending on foreign ministers and embassies, the role of each individual can vary. For instance, the interests of Egypt would take into account, the politics of Egypt and Middle East, as well as the foreign policy of America on the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. For a country like Greece, the main source of revenue for their economy is the industry of tourism, so these factors would account in to their foreign policies.12 The era of Globalization has made it a ‘struggle for survival’ for the diplomatic actors. They have to represent the opinions of their public, gather accurate information and report back to their home bases in an efficient, organized and quick manner. In order to do this job well, they have to compete for the attention of the media and let themselves be heard. So even though foreign ministers are safeguarding the policies of their countries, they have to fight for a place in media to achieve this.13 Conclusion From the analysis of the effect of advancement in information and communication technologies on the practices of diplomats and foreign ministers it can be concluded that their job designation has changed. With the rapid occurrence of events the focus is more on the quick response from the diplomats rather than to deal with the situation with the best possible solution. The media has vast coverage and access, and these diplomatic personals need to be on their toes and have made them accountable for a lot of situations, which in the past might have been seen as a ‘non-issue’. The study presented in this essay demonstrates that there is no single means of a communication strategy that can be adopted by all the diplomatic players. They have to cater to different needs through different mediums. For instance, a minister in US might use twitter to connect with his audience but a minister in Afghanistan might find his target audience on twitter. 14 The advantages for the current generation of e-diplomats are that most of them are already aware of the benefits and the usage of the new technology. So using the full potential of these developments would seem like a second nature to them. . Now in this day and age it has become possible to look at alternate resolution methods for global or local conflicts. Now communication with terrorist has become possible. Diplomats all over are increasingly trying to shift to these new means of communication. Most researchers believe that this is a step in the right direction. And from the research and analysis of the impact in this paper of taking such a step, makes sense to adopt this method. But as this would join the real world (with real problems) with the virtual world (with perceived problems), the exact consequences are unclear but it can be concluded that the functions and the purpose of foreign ministries and diplomats have been greatly influenced. References Copeland Daryl , "Memo to the EU: What Next?" (Washington, DC: Foreign Policy In Focus, 2010) Geoffer Craig, 2004, The media, politics and public life, Australia, Allen & Unwin, 2004 Hassan, Robert, Media, Politics and the network Society, Berkshire, Open University Press, 2004 Kohler, Richard. “Virtual diplomacy.” In Robert Wolfe (Ed.), Diplomatic missions: The ambassador in Canadian foreign policy. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1998 Mayberry, Mark. “Trends in new media.” In Alan Heil (Ed.), Local voices/global perspectives. Washington: Public Diplomacy Council, 2008 Potter, Evan, Cyber-Diplomacy: Managing foreign policy in the twenty-first century, Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002 Snow & Taylor, Routledge, Handbook of public diplomacy, New York, Routledge, 2009 Tapscott, Don, & Anthony Williams. Wikinomics. Toronto: Portfolio, 2006 Winters, Paul, The media and Politics, Indiana, Greenhaven Press, 1996 Read More