Digital public diplomacy: Business as usual or a paradigm shift?

In the digital age, the close connection between soft power and public diplomacy can no longer be taken for granted. Digital technologies have the potential to transcend the soft-power/public diplomacy nexus by downplaying the strategic focus on interest and policy promotion in favor of more symmetrical approaches of relationship building. The chapter develops this argument by exploring how digital technologies are bound to transform the aims, methods, and outcomes of public diplomacy. More specifically, we discuss the changing nature of relationships of influence in the digital context, the need for a careful balance between digital tactics and strategy, and the development of new methods for assessing the impact of digital public diplomacy in the short and long term.