Sixteenth International Conference on Technology, Knowledge & Society

Abstract

Around the world, digital diplomacy has received growing attention as Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MFAs), embassies, and diplomats increasingly take to cyberspace to communicate and engage with foreign publics. Viewed as a new soft-power frontier, digital diplomacy seems to mark a new milestone in the evolution of public diplomacy, this time in cyberspace. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, digital diplomacy remains a marginal feature as both a diplomatic practice and a scholarly pursuit. One reason for this situation relates to the region’s lack of experience with public diplomacy, an area of transnational government communication seeking to impact foreign publics’ attitudes for the purpose of affecting foreign policy outcomes. In the age of the internet and social media, the historical primacy of state propaganda seems to have created a critical gap in the MENA region’s communications with foreign publics, with very few statesmen and leaders making it to the top global diplomatic influencers level. This paper provides an analytical overview of the situation of digital diplomacy in the MENA region in terms of challenges and opportunities. The author argues that while there are significant variations among Arab states’ participation in cyber diplomacy, the whole region seems properly poised for engagement with this facet of public diplomacy.