جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه « Digital diplomacy » در نشریات گروه « علوم سیاسی »

Introduction :

 The information revolution has significantly altered the nature of power by enhancing the capacity of soft power and reshaping the very foundations of power structures. In the past, leaders and politicians were the primary figures to determine national interests in each nation, but in the digital age, the Internet and social networks have functioned to eliminate the mediatorship, leading to the highlighted role of the individual, the emergence of public opinions, and distribution of power from the government to people and other key actors. Today, power derived from public opinions is considered by political actors as a potent instrument for accomplishing political objectives.Iran’s Twenty-Year Vision Document, looking ahead to 2025, outlines a comprehensive objective of the Islamic Republic of Iran as to attain a preeminent economic and technological position in the region while preserving its Islamic and revolutionary identity, being a source of inspiration in the Islamic world, and engaging in a constructive interaction in international relations. To secure the top economic position in the region and an influential position in the international arena, it is imperative to leverage the capabilities of the country’s diplomatic apparatus. Diplomacy serves as the executive arm of foreign policy within the framework of a country’s foreign policy doctrine. To thrive in the evolving global landscape requires possessing modern tools since the shifting global landscape demands novel tools and approaches. In today’s world, powerful governments employ soft power instruments to influence and sway societies.Diplomacy stands as one of the most critical tools for advancing a country’s national power and achieving its objectives. Leading governments have embraced digital diplomacy as a means to bolster their national brand and effectively manage their public image, thus reaching vast audiences. In the contemporary age of communication, a formidable presence on the global stage necessitates the strategic implementation of digital diplomacy, positioning it at the forefront ofa country’s public diplomacy initiatives. In this respect, the present research aimed to recognize the role of digital diplomacy as a pivotalpower-building instrument, and to incorporate it into Iran’s strategic planning.This research intended to offer a full-brown description of digital diplomacy by delving into the power-building factors of modern media. The objective was to formulate effective strategies that enhance the digital diplomacy initiatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran, thereby strengthening Iran’s influential presence in global politics and increasing Iran’s soft power as an important dimension of power. The research tried to address the pivotal question concerning the role modern media can assume within a country’s diplomatic apparatus. This would involve understanding how media can contribute to advancing national interests and bolstering a country’s influence and authority in the international arena. This research also sought to propose key indicators and strategies for advancing Iran’s digital diplomacy initiatives.

Literature Review:

Numerous case studies and comparative analyses have explored digital diplomacy, underscoring the significant impact of social media in international diplomacy. However, despite the close interconnection of technology, diplomacy, and soft power, there is a lack of research that systematically situates these three domains within a theoretical framework and examines international relations theories by considering the role of modern media on the power-building capacity of diplomacy.In the article titled “Shaping Public Diplomacy through Social Media Networks in the 21st Century,” Costa (2017) posits that the Internet and information and communication technology have significantly influenced the definition and performance of public diplomacy. In “Foreign Policy in an Era of Digital Diplomacy,”Adesina (2017) draws the conclusion that digital diplomacy and internet-based activities play a vital role in effectively communicating a government’s foreign policy stances to both domestic and international audiences.  In the article titled “Twitplomacy: Social Media as a New Platform for Development of Public Diplomacy,” Su (2015) argues that the impact of Internet users on the diplomatic agenda can complement political concepts. Considering the role of social media in the public diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ameli (2017) asserts that emerging social media technologies will play a central role in diplomacy by influencing social space.Ganjidoust (2008) focuses on the profound impact of information and communication technology in the field of diplomacy. The author contends that diplomacy has experienced greater influence from technological advancements compared to other domains, primarily because of its heavy reliance on the fundamental components of information and communication. According to Ganjidoust, the developments of the information age have brought about significant transformations in both the form and substance of diplomacy.

The Delphi technique was employed for identifying indicators, while the Dimetal technique was utilized for modeling. The study used Partial Least Squares technique to test the exploratory model and analyze the reciprocal influence between variables.

The findings revealed that modern media plays a pivotal role as a complete mediator in the transfer of power to diplomacy. Through online communication, new media platforms foster interaction and networking among users. They employ activism, imagery, and psychological operations to craft their desired narrative, thus reinforce user engagement and convergence through orienting and streamlining, Ultimately, by fostering a sense of belonging, they establish identity and create opportunities within the system of diplomacy.To succeed in public diplomacy, particularly in the realm of digital diplomacy, requires a comprehensive strategy encompassing strategic goals, strategic priorities, and executive guidelines to attain the strategic goals. Concerning the Islamic Republic of Iran, the strategic goals are as follows: Making a powerful image of Iran, national branding of Iranian–Islamic identity, informing people about the policies, beliefs, and values of Iranians, and introducing opportunities and strengths. The strategic priorities of the digital diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran include Interacting with citizens and foreign populations to foster and enhance mutual relations, providing transparent information and swift responses to counter misinformation, combating online hooliganism, presenting leadership guidelines, and engaging in social listening and social monitoring. Without a thorough analysis and practical solutions to this question, it is not possible to address the needs of audience satisfactorily. The assessment of attitudes, questions, and challenges is the most critical aspect which guides the subsequent actions. Concerning interaction, it is recommended to interact with influencers, as well as political, religious, cultural, and national figures, to clarify ambiguities and foster constructive dialogues through the dissemination of pre-prepared images, messages, and video clips. Moreover, regular evaluation of the outcomes on the basis of a theory of structures and processes can help ensure the effectiveness of digital diplomacy and coordination.

Today, the U.S. and Russian foreign ministries are using social media such as Twitter to spread their national narratives and digital diplomacy branding. The United States and Russia are trying to take their conflicting interests into cyberspace and create a parallel world through their digital channels. The main struggle between the United States and Russia revolves around public opinion to establish their desired order through national branding in the parallel digital world. Based on this, this article attempts to answer these questions through three-step coding in the content of the Twitter of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United States and Russia. How do the United States and Russia seek to create their national branding through digital diplomacy? And what is the difference between these two governments' approaches? In response, it is pointed out that when reviewing and studying the two Twitter accounts of the US and Russian Foreign Ministries, these ministries have tried to highlight their two national brands "concept". While America has sought to maintain its hegemonic role in the world and globalize the order of liberal democracy, Russia, in turn, has been trying to redefine its leadership role in the world and fight against the unilateralist order of America. This redefining and Russia's struggle with the desired order of America has made Russia to put the identity and historical role of the Soviet Union at the forefront of its political performance today. This is while America wants to shape the values of the world by maintaining its hegemonic role and expanding its values, and to analyze his narrative of the target governments based on American values and culture. In this article, we have attempted to identify the hidden meanings of the U.S. and Russian State Department tweets using the method of qualitative content analysis.

The present study used the scientometric approach to investigate the status of scientific products in the field of digital diplomacy. This study was conducted by considering 118 published documents from the beginning to the end of 2020 that were indexed in the Web of Science database. HistCite and Excel software was used for the analysis and VosViewer software was used to draw the collaboration and word co-occurrence network. Findings showed that publications in this field have significantly grown in recent years. The United States with 31 documents, the United Kingdom (28 documents), and Russia (10 documents) were the most productive countries in this field. The University of Oxford was the most productive university in this field (12 documents). The Hague Journal of Diplomacy also published the largest share of papers in this field (15 articles). In general, 11 different subject clusters were found in the word co-occurrence network of this field, which these clusters dealt with issues such as foreign policy, social networks, technology, cyber diplomacy, crisis, and so on. Totally, the results of the present study indicate that the field of digital diplomacy is an emerging field that has received much attention in recent years. It seems the growth of scientific production in this field coincides with the increase of media and social networks because social networks are introduced as the main tools in this field.

The onset of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has weakened traditional diplomacy in the field of international relations. As a result, interest in digital diplomacy and the activities in cyberspace have been growing by a multitude of administrative departments across government agencies in the world. The United States Department of State (U.S. DOS) has also become more prominent in digital diplomacy in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic by constructing strategic narratives against China. A key objective of this study is to explore the content and main reasons for narrative against China by using MAXQDA10 software package which is suitable for qualitative data analysis. A three-step coding is used to collect data in the content of Twitter, Instagram and YouTube accounts and channels of the U.S. Department of State to manipulate perceptions of the danger that China poses. The questions raised in this research are as follows: 1- With the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, how does the U.S. State Department express its goals and aspirations in the international system related to attitude of the U.S. toward China by constructing strategic narratives? 2- Why is the United States promoting these narratives? After studying the three U.S. DOS accounts, it became clear that the main US foreign policy agency was attempting to highlight two strategic narratives: a) The right conduct of the United States in foreign and domestic policy and b) the wrong conduct of China in foreign and domestic policy. In the strategic narrative of the morally good or correct foreign and domestic policy behavior of the U.S., two genres were extracted (the savior of the world during the COVID-19 pandemic, the responsible state confronting China's misguided policies). In the strategic narrative of the China's wrong foreign and domestic policy behavior, two other genres were observed (China acting as a non-transparent and irresponsible government in this outbreak, an authoritarian state at home and an aggressive power abroad). Clearly, the U.S. government portrays China as a threat to its hegemony, and has taken advantage of the international community’s interest in the origins of the coronavirus pandemic to promote its anti-China agenda. In order to understand the importance of communication in international relations, the authors have used the theories of image and strategic narrative. Image theory show the perception of politicians and other actors of each other on any subject. Image theory is appropriate for the analysis of the nature of relationships in interactive contexts, because it enables an actor to define and understand one’s self-image and the image of others. Strategic narrative is also a means by which governments can express their interests, values and aspirations. Strategic narratives are a tool for political actors through which they can change the discourse space, manage expectations, and expand their influence. This is a qualitative study using content analysis method to show the hidden meaning of texts in the digital content of the U.S. State Department social media accounts. Accordingly, 247 tweets, 80 Instagram posts and 27 short videos from YouTube from the early days of the outbreak of COVID-19 in March to mid-August 2020 were selected. A total of 354 contents of the State Department’s digital activity related to COVID-19 and China's performance were systematically and randomly identified; then they were selected, translated into Persian, and analyzed. The analysis process consists of the three coding steps that are specified using the Maxqda10 software: 1- The first stage is the description stage, and is related to the formal features of the text, such as words and text structures. 2- The second stage deals with interpretation, and is a combination of the contents of the text and the mentality of the interpreter. Mentality here refers to the background knowledge that the interpreter uses in interpreting the text, which leads to the linguistic formation of genres. 3- The third stage is the explanation stage, and describes the relationship between social events (interactions) with social structures that affect or are affected by these events. At this stage, narratives are formed. By studying these three social media accounts, it can be seen that the U.S. State Department is trying to highlight two strategic narratives; the right behavior of the United States in foreign and domestic policy and the wrong behavior of China in foreign and domestic policy during the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. State Department has highlighted four genres (four images). The self-image of Washington as the savior of the world in the pandemic era is highlighted, in contrast to China's misguided policies. In general, the use of social media platforms such as Twitter by the U.S. Department of State is expected to grow in order to reach foreign audiences with the aim of achieving U.S. foreign policy goals. In the case of China, the U.S. goal has been to justify itself and discredit China during the current outbreak of COVID-19. Thus, two images have been constructed: a non-transparent and irresponsible Chinese government, an authoritarian state at home and aggressive outside. The U.S. government sees China as a threat to its hegemony. For this reason, the United States has somewhat sought to tarnish China's image by narrating it negatively on social media.

Today, almost all politicians in the world are on the Internet and posting texts and reports on their accounts. The culmination of these activities can be seen during the Iran-P5 + 1 nuclear talks. The main question here is: What has been the role of social media in the Vienna nuclear negotiations? Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. All data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis method. The results of the first sub-question showed that interaction with the public, management of public opinion and the use of English were part of the strength of the Iranian nuclear negotiating team in using social media and, on the other hand, not having Strategy, disorder, and lack of a media consultant can also be included in the list of negotiators' weaknesses in the use of these networks. In another part of the results and in response to the second sub-question, it was revealed that breaking the monopoly of the mainstream media, raising people's social capital towards officials and direct interaction with the people of the world and face-to-face conversation with public opinion are the most important goals. The nuclear negotiating team has been using social media to pursue it, but from the point of view of the interviewees, media coverage, tools of psychological warfare, media streaming, news analytics and complementary information flow are among the most important functions. Social media was at the core of the negotiations