[Commlist] Call for Chapters: /The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Digitalisation of Public Diplomacy

*Call for Chapters: /The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Digitalisation of 
Public Diplomacy/*

*Editor: Dr. Floribert Patrick C. Endong, University of Calabar, Nigeria.*

*Publisher: IGI Global, Hershey, USA.*
**

*Introduction*

In a 2013 commentary article posted on the US Department of State’s 
official blog /DipNote,/ the former US Secretary of State, John Kerry, 
somewhat criticised the popular tendency among diplomacy practitioners, 
scholars and critics to make the term “digital diplomacy” the talk of 
the town. He claimed that this term (“digital diplomacy”) “is almost 
redundant - it's just diplomacy, period”. Kerry further stressed that, 
although the new information and communication technologies (ICTs) do 
tremendously contribute to the advancement of countries’ foreign policy 
objectives as well as to bridging the gap between people across the 
globe, they (the ICTs) fulfil the same core diplomatic functions as the 
traditional/analogue tools of public diplomacy. For instance, they 
enable diplomats to create dialogue among the broadest possible audience 
as well as to find common ground, which, after all, are what diplomacy 
is all about (Kerry 2013).

For many observers, Kerry’s pronouncement came to mean that it is futile 
to always stress the digitalised nature of ICT-driven diplomacy given 
the fact that a plurality of factors or indicators suggest that, in a 
near future, the use of digital technologies in diplomacy will become 
too banal that professionals and scholars in the discipline will no 
longer see the need to stress the “digital nature” of digital diplomacy. 
In spite of its pertinence, the above futuristic statement seems not to 
take into account a number of new developments in the domains of 
artificial intelligence, robotics, smart cultures and diplomacy itself, 
among others. In effect, digital diplomacy itself has over the years 
been extremely dynamic, so much so that it is becoming more and more 
complex to define players in the diplomatic game. For instance, 
technological innovations in AI and robotics have caused governments to 
fantasise over using robots as diplomats or using artificial 
intelligence in the conduct of consular affairs, crisis communication, 
public diplomacy and international negotiations. China is a good example 
of countries who, in recent times, have ardently resorted to AI in 
international negotiations and crisis communications (Daxue Consulting 
2020).

In view of new developments in digital diplomacy, Bjola (2018) observes 
that digitalisation may not have changed the main targets of diplomacy 
but the truth remains that it has so transformed the diplomacy game that 
it will not be out of place to talk of a revolution in the conduct of 
diplomacy. Bjola actually contends that although “the core mission of 
diplomacy in the Digital Age is still about finding the middle ground”, 
a lot of emergent digitally driven trend have brought significant 
changes in the way the diplomatic game is now conducted. What has 
concretely changed is “the context in which the core mission of 
diplomacy is supposed to be accomplished”. In effect, “new digital 
technologies significantly broaden the spectrum of actors that can take 
part and influence the diplomatic conversation, reshape the ‘grammar 
rules’ and institutional norms to guide online diplomatic engagement, 
and opens the door to the use of digital tools for disrupting the middle 
ground via disinformation and propaganda” (p.8).

Besides broadening the spectrum of actors that can participate in, and 
shape the diplomacy game, new technological innovations (notably AI and 
robots) have given birth to such paradigms as robotisation, increased 
and advanced mechanisation and dehumanisation of public diplomacy in the 
world. Other related developments have been the acceleration and growing 
popularisation of the smart city concept as well as the COVID-19 
pandemic which have all combined to compel almost all major human 
industries – including diplomacy – to mainly shift online and to be 
revolutionised day by day.

The dynamics of digital diplomacy suggested in the foregoing have not 
yet attracted the scholarly attention they deserve. The majority of 
studies devoted to the use of ICTs in the conduct of public diplomacy 
have not actually touched issues such as AI, smart technologies as well 
as the influence of the COVID-19 on the evolution or revolution of 
digital diplomacy in the world. Previous works have also not sought to 
address emerging issues related to the implication of the above 
mentioned emerging trends for teaching and research in public diplomacy. 
This book ultimately seeks to fill this apparent gap in knowledge.

*Objectives of the Book *

The objectives of this book are therefore to 1. Explore the influences 
of the new ICTs, AI and smart cultures on the conduct of public 
diplomacy, 2. examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the conduct 
of digital diplomacy in the world, and 3. analyse the implications of 
the dynamics of ICTs and AI for teaching and research in digital diplomacy.

*Target Audience*

Academic community, students, diplomats, research institutions, Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs, ICTs developers and policy makers.

*Topics Recommended*

  * Theories and practices of digital diplomacy
  * Digital divide and the practice of digital diplomacy
  * Smart cultures, globalization and digital diplomacy
  * Digitalisation and the mechanisation and de-humanisation of public
    diplomacy
  * COVID-19 pandemic and the practice of digital diplomacy in the world
  * COVID-19 pandemic and the future of digital diplomacy
  * COVID-19 pandemic and teaching and research in digital diplomacy
  * Conferences, symposia and governments’ application of digital diplomacy
  * Post truth, disinformation/misinformation and the dark side of
    digital diplomacy
  * Social media and the evolution/future of digital diplomacy
  * Digitalisation, citizen diplomacy and internet censorship
  * Digital diplomacy and nation branding
  * The civil society, social media and digital diplomacy
  * Non-State actors and digital diplomacy

*References*

Bjola, C. (2018). /Diplomacy in the digital age/. Amsterdam: El Cano 
Institutes.

Bjola, C. (2019). /Diplomacy in the age of artificial intelligence/. Abu 
Dhabi: The Emirate Diplomatic Academy.

Daxue Consulting (2020). /The AI ecosystem in China/, Beijing: Daxue 
Consulting.

Kerry J. (2013), ‘Digital Diplomacy: Adapting Our Diplomatic 
Engagement’, /DipNote/ U.S Department of State Official Blog, 6/V/2013, 
Retrieved November 24, 2020, from, 
http://2007-2017-blogs.state.gov/stories/2013/05/06/digital-diplomacyadapting-our-diplomatic-engagement.html.

*Submission Procedure*

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before 
*February 19, 2021*, a chapter proposal of 1,000 to 2,000 words clearly 
explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. 
Authors will be notified by *March 5, 2021* about the status of their 
proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be 
submitted by *May 4, 2021*, and all interested authors must consult the 
guidelines for manuscript submissions 
athttps://www.igi-global.com/publish/contributor-resources/before-you-write/ 
<https://www.igi-global.com/publish/contributor-resources/before-you-write/>prior 
to submission. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind 
review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers 
for this project.

Note: There are no submission or acceptance fees for manuscripts 
submitted to this book publication, The COVID-19 Pandemic and the 
Digitalization of Diplomacy. All manuscripts are accepted based on a 
double-blind peer review editorial process.

All proposals should be submitted through the eEditorial Discovery^® 
 online submission manager.

*Submit your proposal online 
at*https://www.igi-global.com/publish/call-for-papers/call-details/5069 
<https://www.igi-global.com/publish/call-for-papers/call-details/5069>

*Note*: There are no submission or acceptance fees for manuscripts 
submitted to this book publication.


    Publisher

This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea 
Group Inc.), an international academic publisher of the "Information 
Science Reference" (formerly Idea Group Reference), "Medical Information 
Science Reference," "Business Science Reference," and "Engineering 
Science Reference" imprints. IGI Global specializes in publishing 
reference books, scholarly journals, and electronic databases featuring 
academic research on a variety of innovative topic areas including, but 
not limited to, education, social science, medicine and healthcare, 
business and management, information science and technology, 
engineering, public administration, library and information science, 
media and communication studies, and environmental science. For 
additional information regarding the publisher, please 
visithttps://www.igi-global.com <https://www.igi-global.com/>. This 
publication is anticipated to be released in 2022.

*Important Dates*

*February 19, 2021*: Proposal Submission Deadline
*March 5, 2021*: Notification of Acceptance
*May 4, 2021*: Full Chapter Submission
*June 17, 2021*: Review Results Returned
*July 29, 2021*: Final Acceptance Notification
*August 12, 2021*: Final Chapter Submission

*Editor’s Contact:*

Floribert Patrick C. Endong (PhD), University of Calabar, Nigeria.

(floribertendong /at/ yahoo.com)
<mailto:(floribertendong /at/ yahoo.com)>

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