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

Download file to see previous pages 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 ...Download file to see next pagesRead More