Beyond Adaptation: Assessing Social Competence in the Digital Diplomacy Era

Abstract

Diplomacy’s migration to the digital realm has irrevocably changed the environment and practices of diplomats. Diplomatic agents today face completely different realities than their colleagues did a hundred years ago. As a result, the interlinkage between diplomacy and digitalization has received more attention in recent diplomatic literature, specifically digital diplomacy. However, recently, scholars have increasingly critiqued digital diplomacy literature's overemphasis on measuring successful adaptation as a response to digitalization. Consequently, recent scholarship advocates for increased attention toward the systematic adoption of digital tools. It is in response to such advocacy that this thesis departs. This thesis seeks to further explore the complicated impact of digitalization on diplomacy and its practitioners. Specifically, the thesis aims to explore how we can identify and assess socially competent performances among diplomatic agents in this diplomatic environment characterized by digitalization. Thus, the thesis will explore the digital diplomacy practices on Facebook for five embassies in Bucharest, Romania. To that end, a theoretical framework called the “logic of practicality of digital communities” is proposed to emphasize the role of audience and interplay in the digital practices of diplomatic agents. Subsequently, this framework is applied to two qualitative case studies constructed from collected Facebook data. The findings show that embassies employing an audience-centric approach to Facebook are significantly more successful in conducting digital diplomacy than embassies taking a traditional state-centric approach. Moreover, the findings highlighted the erosion of the line between domestic and international politics, illustrating how external events can have a significant impact on the local conduct of diplomacy. In the end, the thesis finds that contemporary diplomats could benefit by shifting from improvisational integration between physical and digital diplomacy to deliberate and systematic digital adoption in the conduct of diplomacy. Lastly, the researcher would argue that the theoretical framework, emphasizing practice and community, and methodological approach can be applied, with adaptations, to other forms of digital diplomacy. In this sense, the thesis and its framework contribute to digital diplomacy scholarship more generally.