“We can engage in direct diplomacy, not just elite diplomacy,” said Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird during a visit Friday (February 7) to the Silicon Valley headquarters of Google and Twitter.
“Diplomacy may never live up to the Silicon Valley mantra of ‘move fast and break things,’ for various reasons,” the Minister is quoted in a press release. “But in the environment of instant communication and social media, we do have to move faster and not be afraid to try new things or to make mistakes.”
According to the foreign affairs ministry, Baird “discussed the two companies’ work in Canada and explored how the Internet and social media are shaping government and foreign policy”.
Canadian Press journalist Mike Blanchfield quotes ministry officials as saying the Canadian government has already launched initiatives in missions in Tunisia, Ukraine and Egypt and wants to expand.
This follows an initiative of the ministry and the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto to create a “political space for conversation among Iranians on the future of Iran” through a website called “Global Dialogue on the Future of Iran“.
In an interview with RCI in January, David Carment a professor of international affairs at Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs and the editor of the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal voiced his concerns about the use of Twitter and the Internet for foreign policy goals, and he called for a two-way exchange that allows for a wide range of inputs into the foreign service.
More information:
Foreign Affairs ministry press release – Baird Meets with Tech Community in Silicon Valley – here
Canadian Press/Mike Blanchfield – Baird seeks Google, Twitter help to unleash Canadian diplomats on social media – here
Global Dialogue on the Future of Iran website – www.theglobaldialogue.ca
RCI – Is Twitter diplomacy better foreign policy? (includes audio) – here
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