The Digital Diplomacy as a Phenomenon of International Relations: Research Methodology

The article discusses the digital diplomacy in terms of historical development in world politics and in terms of conceptual approaches relative to the study of the digital diplomacy. The digital diplomacy as a government mechanism to have an impact on users of social networks has been examined through two stages in its development. During the periods of 2019–2012 and 2013–2017, the digital diplomacy modified its conceptual fundamentals (notably from the concept of soft power to the concept of sharp power), revised its approaches (notably from the dissemination of a positive image of a state to the spreading of negatively toned messages about the target countries), and amended its ways so as to influence the users (notably from the establishment of a direct dialogue to the establishment of ideologically opposing publics that amplified discussions). During the period of 2018–2020, the digital diplomacy entered the third stage of the development, when AI and big data became a cohesive part of the digital diplomacy and contributed to the politics of informational deterrence. The author also examines the theories of realism and constructivism that are relevant to the study of the digital diplomacy. The cases of Syria and Venezuela demonstrate the application of the hashtag tracking, network analysis, sentiment analysis, and opinion mining in the study of digital diplomacy.