Digital diplomacy: international experience and Ukraine’s perspectives

In the age of globalization and the dominance of digital technologies, public diplomacy is no longer the prerogative of politicians, as the number of agents of influence is constantly increasing. Openness and publicity dictate new rules of the political game and, accordingly, make new demands on public diplomacy of the state. In light of the global Covid-19 pandemic, digital technologies are becoming especially relevant, strengthening the importance of digital diplomacy as the newest direction of public diplomacy. The purpose of this paper is to study the international experience of integrated inclusion of digital diplomacy into the arsenal of public diplomacy and the opportunities and problems to apply that experience for the digitalization of Ukrainian public diplomacy. The need to understand digital diplomacy is determined by a number of factors, in particular, increasing information flows, the inclusion of diplomatic communication in the global context of networking, the use of new communication channels and tools as well as its intensity, and the emergence of new types of influence on the audience in diplomatic practice.  The experience of the leading world’s democracies shows the potential of digital diplomacy as a strategic resource for promoting national interests and implementation of diplomatic tasks and state political doctrine. The essence of the cultural and political dimension of digital diplomacy is that the use of the latest information and communication tools in the foreign policy area contributes to strengthening the attractive image of the political culture of the state, ensuring the main goals of the country’s economy in the world economic space, as well as the promotion of national identity abroad. Digital diplomacy is a tool for spreading democratic values worldwide that creates a basis for global unity. Opportunities for the development of "digital diplomacy" in Ukraine seem to be limited by the lack of national information and communication strategy, the shortage of trained professionals, and a number of risks inherent in working on the Internet. Nevertheless, digital diplomacy in Ukraine is actively developing, involving more and more stakeholders in the process of information exchange. That is facilitated by the very nature of social media, which, like any living organism, is constantly evolving.