Digital Diplomacy and International Organisations: Autonomy, Legitimacy and Contestation

321 Pages·2021·17.604 MB·English

by  Corneliu Bjola and Ruben Zaiotti

DIGITAL DIPLOMACY AND
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
This book examines how international organisations (IOs) have struggled to
adapt to the digital age, and with social media in particular.
The global spread of new digital communication technologies has profoundly
transformed the way organisations operate and interact with the outside world.
This edited volume explores the impact of digital technologies, with a focus on
social media, for one of the major actors in international affairs, namely IOs. To
examine the peculiar dynamics characterising the IO–digital nexus, the volume
relies on theoretical insights drawn from the disciplines of International Relations,
Diplomatic Studies, Media, and Communication Studies, as well as from
Organisation Studies. The volume maps the evolution of IOs’ “digital universe”
and examines the impact of digital technologies on issues of organisational
autonomy, legitimacy and contestation. The volume’s contributions combine
engaging theoretical insights with newly compiled empirical material and an
eclectic set of methodological approaches (multivariate regression, network
analysis, content analysis, sentiment analysis), offering a highly nuanced and
textured understanding of the multifaceted, complex, and ever-evolving
nature of the use of digital technologies by international organisations in their
multilateral engagements.
This book will be of much interest to students of diplomacy, media, and
communication studies, and international organisations.
Corneliu Bjola is Associate Professor in Diplomatic Studies at the University of
Oxford and Head of the Oxford Digital Diplomacy Research Group, UK.
Ruben Zaiotti is Jean Monnet Chair in Public Diplomacy, Director of the
European Union Centre of Excellence, and Associate Professor in the Political
Science department at Dalhousie University, Canada.
ROUTLEDGE NEW DIPLOMACY STUDIES
This series publishes theoretically challenging and empirically authoritative
studies of the traditions, functions, paradigms, and institutions of modern diplo-
macy. Taking a comparative approach, the New Diplomacy Studies series aims to
advance research on international diplomacy, publishing innovative accounts of
how “old” and “new” diplomats help steer international conduct between anar-
chy and hegemony, handle demands for international stability vs international
justice, facilitate transitions between international orders, and address global
governance challenges. Dedicated to the exchange of different scholarly per-
spectives, the series aims to be a forum for inter-paradigm and inter-disciplinary
debates, and an opportunity for dialogue between scholars and practitioners.
Series Editors: Corneliu Bjola, University of Oxford, and Markus Kornprobst,
Diplomatic Academy of Vienna
China’s Cultural Diplomacy
A Great Leap Outward?
Xin Liu
Diplomacy and Borderlands
African Agency at the Intersections of Orders
Edited by Katharina P. Coleman, Markus Kornprobst, and Annette Seegers
Diplomacy and Ideology
From the French Revolution to the Digital Age
Alexander Stagnell
Digital Diplomacy and International Organisations
Autonomy, Legitimacy and Contestation
Edited by Corneliu Bjola and Ruben Zaiotti
For more information about this series, please visit: https :/ /ww w .rou tledg e .com
/Rout ledge -New- Diplo macy- Studi es /bo ok -se ries/ RNDS
DIGITAL DIPLOMACY
AND INTERNATIONAL
ORGANISATIONS
Autonomy, Legitimacy
and Contestation
Edited by Corneliu Bjola and Ruben Zaiotti
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 selection and editorial matter, Corneliu Bjola and Ruben
Zaiotti; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Corneliu Bjola and Ruben Zaiotti to be identifed as
the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77
and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
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or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bjola, Corneliu, editor. | Zaiotti, Ruben, editor.
Title: Digital diplomacy and international organisations: autonomy,
legitimacy and contestation/edited by Corneliu Bjola and
Ruben Zaiotti.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2021. |
Series: Routledge new diplomacy studies | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifers: LCCN 2020023757 (print) |
LCCN 2020023758 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367470012 (hardback) |
ISBN 9780367469993 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003032724 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: International agencies. |
Communication in international relations. |
Internet and international relations. |
Social media–Political aspects. |
Diplomacy–Technological innovations.
Classifcation: LCC JZ4850 .D546 2021 (print) |
LCC JZ4850 (ebook) | DDC 352.3/842110285–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020023757
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020023758
ISBN: 978-0-367-47001-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-46999-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-03272-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
CONTENTS
List of fgures vii
List of tables ix
List of contributors xi
Acknowledgements xv
1 Going digital: Choices and challenges for international
organisations 1
Corneliu Bjola and Ruben Zaiotti
PART I
International organisations’ “digital universe” 19
2 IO public communication going digital? Understanding
social media adoption and use in times of politicization 21
Matthias Ecker-Ehrhardt
3 Digital diplomacy or political communication? Exploring
social media in the EU institutions from a critical discourse
perspective 52
Michał Krzyżanowski
4 Is there a place for a crowdsourcing in multilateral
diplomacy? Searching for a new museum defnition: ICOM
vs the world of museum professionals 74
Natalia Grincheva
vi Contents
PART II
International organisations and autonomy 99
5 The United Nations in the digital age: Harnessing the
power of new digital information and communication
technologies 101
Caroline Bouchard
6 CLOCK, CLOUD, and Contestation: The digital journey
of the Commonwealth Secretariat 127
Nabeel Goheer
PART III
International organisation and legitimacy 153
7 Tweeting to save succeeding generations from the scourge of
war? The UN, Twitter, and communicative action 155
Matthias Hofferberth
8 Reconceptualising and measuring online prestige in IOs:
Towards a theory of prestige mobility 184
Ilan Manor
9 The (un)making of international organisations’ digital
reputation: The European Union, the “refugee crisis,” and
social media 207
Ruben Zaiotti
PART IV
International organisations and contestation 227
10 Diplomat or Troll? The case against digital diplomacy 229
Tobias Lemke and Michael Habegger
11 Coping with digital disinformation in multilateral contexts:
The case of the UN Global Compact for Migration 267
Corneliu Bjola
12 Rethinking international organisations in the digital age 287
Corneliu Bjola and Ruben Zaiotti
Index 303
FIGURES
2.1 Number of Facebook pages across years and types of
IO bodies 24
2.2 Number of Twitter accounts across years and types of
IO bodies 25
2.3 Number of Facebook pages post frst year of adoption
by IOs 25
2.4 Number of Twitter accounts post frst year of adoption
by IOs 26
2.5 Distribution of likes across Facebook pages of IOs 27
2.6 Distribution of followers across Twitter accounts of IOs 28
3.1 Critical discourse framework for the analysis of
interactive vs discursive strategies on Twitter 58
4.1 Density of public contributions submitted to the ICOM
platform (created by the author) 89
7.1 Current profle image of the main @UN Twitter handle 156
7.2 Content of UN tweets during 73rd session (n = 1,293) 171
7.3 Purpose of UN tweets during 73rd session (n = 1,293) 171
7.4 Direction of UN tweets during 73rd session (n = 1,293) 172
7.5 Image of UN in UN tweets during 73rd session (n = 1,293) 172
7.6 C ontent of state and non-state tweets during 73rd session
(n = 1,356) 173
7.7 P urpose of state and non-state tweets during 73rd session
(n = 1,356) 174
7.8 D irection of state and non-state tweets during 73rd
session (n = 1,356) 175
7.9 I mage of UN in state and non-state tweets during 73rd
session (n = 1,356) 175
viii Figures
9.1 Overall salience 215
9.2 Salience by continent 216
9.3 Salience by actor 216
9.4 Salience – EU 217
9.5 Overall sentiment 217
9.6 Sentiment 217
9.7 Sentiment by continent 218
11.1 Logical model of IO (de)legitimation 273
11.2 Breakdown of conversation topics 277
11.3 Breakdown of the topics of conversation related to the
73rd session of the UNGA 278
11.4 Breakdown of anti-migration subtopics by emotion and
issue-relevance 279
11.5 Breakdown of anti-migration subtopics by criticism target
and type 280
TABLES
2.1 Descriptive statistics 35
2.2 Negative binomial regression of number of social media
presences per IO body and year 38
2.3 E stimated substantive effects of explanatory variables 40
2.4 P latform-specifc regression models separating the
observed number of Facebook and Twitter presences 42
3.1 O utline of sources for retweets within the analysed EU
spokespeople accounts (April 2014 and 2015) 61
3.2 K ey hash-tagged themes of the analysed 2014 and 2015
EC spokespeople discourse 62
3.3 I mmediate sequence of EC spokespeople tweets about
the Mediterranean migrant boat tragedy/Capital Markets
Union, 04/19/2015 67
3.4 I mmediate sequence of EC spokespeople tweets about
the Nepal earthquake and Capital Markets Union,
04/25–04/27/2015 68
4.1 K eyword frequency in texts of museum defnitions
submitted to the ICOM platform 90
4.2 Q uotes from museum defnitions contributed by
participants from the Global South 91
7.1 T witter handle ideal types and selected examples 164
7.2 T witter handles followed during 73rd UN session (2018) 165
7.3 C oding frame – categories and dimensions 166
7.4 I nstitutional handles from UN – 73rd UN session (2018) 166
7.5 I ndividual handles from UN – 73rd UN session (2018) 167