This book considers the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international diplomacy, and the challenges and opportunities it presents for the future of multilateralism. Global cooperation and solidarity are central to responding to and mitigating the health and socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet, to many, this was slow to mobilize and lacking in political leadership. This book takes a practical look at the lessons learned from the period spanning the World Health Organization’s first declaration of a public health emergency of international concern in January 2020, to the commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations in October 2020. This timespan covers a critical period in which to consider key areas of diplomacy, covering a range of tools of global cooperation: multilateral diplomacy, the rule of law, sustainable development, economics and financing, digital governance, and peace and security. Each chapter in this book introduces readers to the current situation in their respective areas, followed by a constructive consideration of lessons learned from the pandemic’s impact on that field, and key recommendations for the future. The practical focus and future orientation is particularly important as the book injects pragmatism and guidance that will facilitate ‘building back better’ in COVID response plans, while creating space for continued focus on global commitments around sustainable development and the future of the UN. Written by a team of authors who have worked directly in International Public Policy and the establishment of global agendas at the United Nations, this book will be essential reading for professionals and policymakers involved in diplomatic roles, as well as students and scholars interested in the future of international relations, global governance and sustainable development.

New technological innovations have given birth to paradigms such as robotization, increased and advanced mechanization, and dehumanization of public diplomacy around the world. Other related developments have been the acceleration and growing popularization of the smart city concept as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, which have all combined to compel almost all major industries—including diplomacy—to shift online and to be revolutionized. The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Digitalization of Diplomacy explores the influences of the new ICTs, AI, and smart cultures on the conduct of public diplomacy. It further examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the conduct of digital diplomacy in the world and analyzes the implications of the dynamics of ICTs and AI for teaching and research in digital diplomacy. Covering topics such as defense diplomacy, the fourth industrial revolution, and technological determinism, this premier reference source is an essential resource for diplomats, politicians, government officials, ICT developers, students and educators of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

This book addresses how digitalization has influenced the institutions, practitioners and audiences of diplomacy. Throughout, the author argues that terms such as ‘digitalized public diplomacy’ or ‘digital public diplomacy’ are misleading, as they suggest that Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MFAs) are either digital or non-digital, when in fact digitalization should be conceptualized as a long-term process in which the values, norms, working procedures and goals of public diplomacy are challenged and re-defined. Subsequently, through case study examination, this book also argues that different MFAs are at different stages of the digitalization process. By adopting the term ‘the digitalization of public diplomacy’, this book will offer a new conceptual framework for investigating the impact of digitalization on the practice of public diplomacy.

Museum Diplomacy in the Digital Age explores online museums as sites of contemporary cultural diplomacy. Building on scholarship that highlights how museums can constitute and regulate citizens, construct national communities, and project messages across borders, the book explores the political powers of museums in their online spaces. Demonstrating that digital media allow museums to reach far beyond their physical locations, Grincheva investigates whether online audiences are given the tools to co-curate museums and their collections to establish new pathways for international cultural relations, exchange and, potentially, diplomacy. Evaluating the online capacities of museums to exert cultural impacts, the book illuminates how online museum narratives shape audience perceptions and redefine their cultural attitudes and identities. Museum Diplomacy in the Digital Age will be of interest to academics and students teaching or taking courses on museums and heritage, communication and media, cultural studies, cultural diplomacy, international relations and digital humanities. It will also be useful to practitioners around the world who want to learn more about the effect digital museum experiences have on international audiences.

This book presents ten essays that examine the potential of digital responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The essays explore new digital concepts for learning and teaching, provide an overview of organizational responses to the crisis through digital technologies, and examine digital solutions developed to manage the crisis. Scientists from many disciplines work together in the fight against the virus and its numerous consequences. This book explores how information systems researchers can contribute to these global efforts. The book will be of interest to researchers and scholars in the field of digital business and education.

ICT has had a huge impact on businesses and organizations in general, with new business models, new marketing channels, and new markets being reached using these technologies. ICT can promote new strategies and enhancers to optimize various aspects of business, but this technology also provides important tools that can empower social entrepreneurship initiatives to develop, fund, and implement new and innovative solutions to social, cultural, and environmental problems. With the upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent impact on the economy, the methods and tools used within this field will be forever impacted. ICTs and the digital economy are huge trends that will affect organizations in several dimensions, such as how to communicate and improve performance. Thus, new perspectives and research are needed to identify the trends emerging in these fields. The Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Sustainability, and ICTs in the Post-COVID-19 Era broadens the exploitation of entrepreneurship, innovation, and ICTs in a global approach to draw attention to multidisciplinary perspectives of these contexts and their influence in modern organizations. In addition, the book explores and discusses, through innovative studies, case studies, systematic literature reviews, and reports, the key developments in digital entrepreneurship, circular economy and digitalization, digital business models, digital market and internationalization, digital economy, trends and challenges for organizations, digital entrepreneurial ecosystems, IS/ICT in organizations, social aspects of information systems, and more. This book is ideally intended for business managers, industry professionals, entrepreneurs, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students looking for how business and organizations are going to shift and advance in the post-COVID-19 era.

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.