Music for the jilted generation: Open-source public diplomacy

The Hague Journal of Diplomacy

Volumn 3, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 129-152

  Fisher, Ali ^a  

^a Mappa Mundi Consultants ^*

Author keywords

Foreign policy; Internet; Network; New information and communication methodologies; Online; Open source; Public diplomacy; Technology

Indexed keywords

EID: 50849114165     PISSN: 18711901     EISSN: 1871191X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/187119108X323655     Document Type: Article

References (122)

1. Eytan Gilboa, 'Searching for a Theory of Public Diplomacy', The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 2008, vol. 616, see particularly pp. 55-58.
2. Nicholas Cull, Public Diplomacy: Lessons from the Past (Los Angeles CA: University of Southern California, 2007), p. 6.
3. See, for example, Changing Perceptions: Review of Public Diplomacy (Wilton Review), 22 March 2002, online at http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/ PDWiltonReview_March2002.pdf. Equally, the mission statement for DG Relex of the European Commission states: 'The Directorate-General for External Relations contributes to the formulation by the Commissioner for External Relations, together with her colleagues of an effective and coherent external relations policy for the European Union, so as to enable the EU to assert its identity on the international scene'; see http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/external_relations/ general/mission_en.htm.
4. David J. Rothkopf, 'Cyberpolitik: The Changing Nature of Power in the Information Age', Journal of International Affairs, vol. 51, no. 2, spring 1998, p. 325-326.
5. Also see Shaun Riordan, 'Reforming Foreign Services for the Twenty-First Century', The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 2, no. 2, September 2007, pp. 161-173.
6. Eric Steven Raymond, The Cathedral and the Bazaar, available online at http://catb.org/̃esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/.
7. R.S. Zaharna, 'The Soft Power Differential: Network Communication and Mass Communication in Public Diplomacy', The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 2, no. 3, 2007, pp. 213-228.
8. George N. Dafermos, 'Management and Virtual Decentralized Networks: The Linux Project', First Monday, vol. 6, no. 11, November 2001, available online at http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue6_11/dafermos/index.html.
9. David Miliband, New Diplomacy: Challenges for Foreign Policy, speech at Chatham House, London, 19 July 2007, available online at http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/news/view/-/id/392/.
10. Joseph S. Nye, 'Our Impoverished Discourse', The Huffngton Post, 1 November 2006.
11. Joseph S. Nye, 'Propaganda Isn't the Way: Soft Power', International Herald Tribune, 10 January 2003.
12. John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt, The Emergence of Noopolitik: Toward An American Information Strategy, (Santa Monica CA: RAND, 1999), p. 37.
13. See Simon Anholt and Jeremy Hildreth, Brand America (London: Cyan, 2004).
14. Wally Olins, 'Making a National Brand', in Jan Melissen (ed.), The New Public Diplomacy (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), p. 172.
15. Jan Melissen, 'How Has Place Branding Developed? Opinion Piece', Place Branding, vol. 2, no. 1, 2006. Also see Jan Melissen, 'Wielding Soft Power: The New Public Diplomacy', Clingendael Diplomacy Papers, no. 2, May 2005, pp. 22-24.
16. Kathy Fitzpatrick, 'Advancing the New Public Diplomacy: A Public Relations Perspective', The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 2, no. 3, 2007, pp. 187-211.
17. Dafermos, 'Management and Virtual Decentralized Networks'.
18. Bruce Gregory, 'Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication: Cultures, Firewalls, and Imported Norms', presentation at the American Political Science Association Conference on International Communication and Conflict, 31 August 2005, p. 11, quoting Cultural Diplomacy: Recommendations and Research, a report of the Center for Arts and Culture, Washington DC, July 2004, pp. 8-9.
19. Jan Melissen, 'The New Public Diplomacy: Between Theory and Practice', in Jan Melissen (ed.), The New Public Diplomacy (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), p. 10.
20. Also see Jessica Matthews, 'Power Shift', Foreign Affairs, January-February 1997;
21. Brian Hocking (ed.), Foreign Ministries: Change and Adaptation (London: Macmillan, 1999);
22. and Jan Melissen (ed.), Innovation in Diplomatic Practice (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1999).
23. Shaun Riordan, The New Diplomacy (Cambridge: Polity, 2003), p. 130. For further discussions of a two way, non-hierarchical approach, see Arquilla and Ronfeldt, The Emergence of Noopolitik; R.S. Zaharna, 'The Network Paradigm of Strategic Public Diplomacy,' Foreign Policy in Focus, Policy Brief, vol. 10, no. 1, April 2005, available online at www.fpif.org; Jamie Metzl, 'Network Diplomacy', Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, winter/spring 2001, available online at http://www. carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=viewamp;id=681; Brian Hocking, 'Rethinking the "New" Public Diplomacy', in Jan Melissen (ed.), The New Public Diplomacy (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), p. 36; Ali Fisher, 'Public Diplomacy in the United Kingdom', The Future of Public Diplomacy: A European Perspective, working paper from the 2006 Madrid Conference on Public Diplomacy, Real Instituto Elcano, Madrid, November 2006, available online at http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/documentos/276.asp.
24. Barry Fulton, 'Geo-Social Mapping of the International Communications Environment or Why Abdul Isn't Listening', The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 2, no. 3, October 2007, pp. 307-315.
25. See Alan Henrikson, 'Niche Diplomacy in the Public Arena: Canada and Norway', in Jan Melissen (ed.), The New Public Diplomacy (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005);
26. Kishan S. Rana, 'Singapore's Diplomacy: Vulnerability into Strength', The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 1, no. 1, 2006, pp. 81-106;
27. Tommy Koh's essay in Arun Mahizhnan and Lee Tsao Yuan (eds), Singapore: Re-engineering Success (Singapore: Singapore Institute of Policy Studies, 1999);
28. Zaharna, 'The Network Paradigm of Strategic Public Diplomacy'; and Metzl, 'Network Diplomacy'.
29. See Henrikson, 'Niche Diplomacy in the Public Arena'; Rana, 'Singapore's Diplomacy', pp. 81-106;
30. Tommy Koh's essay in Mahizhnan and Yuan (eds), Singapore; Zaharna, 'The Network Paradigm of Strategic Public Diplomacy'; Metzl, 'Network Diplomacy'; Arvid Pardo, 'The Origins of the 1967 Malta Initiative', International Insights, vol. 9, no. 2, Fall 1993, pp. 65-69;
31. and Andrew Mack, Trends in Global Violence and Norway's Peace Diplomacy, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, available online at http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/ud/campaign/refleks/innspill/mack.html?id= 478951.
32. Henrikson, 'Niche Diplomacy in the Public Arena', p. 68. Also see Inge Kaul, Pedro Conceição Katell le Goulven and Ronald U. Mendoza (eds), Providing Global Public Goods: Managing the Globalization (New York: Oxford University Press, published for the United Nations Development Programme, 2003).
33. Henrikson, 'Niche Diplomacy in the Public Arena', p. 82.
34. Alan Henrikson, 'What can Public Diplomacy Achieve?', Discussion Papers on Diplomacy, 2006, p. 2.
35. See, for example, the report on 'Diversity makes the Difference: European Foreign Policy and Culture', Peace Palace, The Hague, 9 March 2007. For non-state actors, see, for example, 'The Private Sector and Public Diplomacy: Corporate Strategies', and 'Public Diplomacy and Virtual Worlds', at the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy.
36. Miliband, New Diplomacy.
37. Miliband, New Diplomacy. Also See Mitchell Baker, 'The Mozilla Project: Past and Future', in Chris DiBona, Mark Stone and Danese Cooper (eds), Open Sources 2.0, (Sebastopol CA: O'Reilly Media, 2005).
38. There are exceptions in both theory and practice. See, for example, Fulton, 'Geo-Social Mapping of the International Communications Environment or Why Abdul Isn't Listening', pp. 307-315.
39. Geoff Miller, 'Current and Emerging Challenges to the Practice of Australian Diplomacy', Australian Journal of International Affairs, vol. 56, no. 2, 2002, pp. 197-206.
40. T. Bates, 'Gramsci and the Theory of Hegemony', Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 36, no. 2, 1975, p. 353.
41. Daniel Drezner, 'The Global Governance of the Internet: Bringing the State Back', Political Science Quarterly, vol. 119, Fall 2004, p. 485. This point is echoed in the quote from David Rothkopf used earlier (Rothkopf, 'Cyberpolitik') and the 2007 postscript in David Ronfeldt and John Arquilla, 'The Promise of Noöpolitik' First Monday, vol. 12, no. 8, August 2007, available online at http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue12_8/ronfeldt/ index.html.
42. Raymond, The Cathedral and the Bazaar.
43. See, for example, www.newsvine.com; http://www.netvibes.com; http://www.technorati.com; with http://www.digg.com; http://del.icio.us; and http://tailrank.com/offering variations on the theme. Also see 'What is RSS?', at www.whatisRSS.com.
44. 'What is Tailrank?', at http://tailrank.com/about.
45. 'Welcome to Technorati', at http://www.technorati.com/about/.
46. 'Most Popular Blogs', at http://www.technorati.com/pop/blogs/(accessed 31 July 2007).
47. 'Austrians Not Amused', www.banderasnews.com, November 2006, available online at http://www.banderasnews.com/0611/nw-fucking-austria.htm.
48. 'Msnbc.com Acquires Newsvine', Newsvine website, 7 October 2007, available online at http://blog. newsvine.com/_news/2007/10/07/1008889-msnbccom- acquires-newsvine.
49. For a discussion of the Noosphere and Noopolitik, see Arquilla and Ronfeldt, The Emergence of Noopolitik, updated as Ronfeldt and Arquilla, 'The Promise of Noöpolitik'.
50. Broadcast Yourself Live On The Web: Best Tools To Create Your Own Live Web TV - A Mini-Guide, available online at http://www.masternewmedia.org/ video_internet_television/live-video-streaming/broadcast-yourself-live-with- video-streaming-20070424.htm. See also http://. Operator11.com.
51. For a further discussion of this point, see Ali Fisher, 'Gramsci and the New Intellectuals', 49th Parallel, autumn 2003.
52. Giles Scott-Smith, 'US Public Diplomacy and the New American Studies: No Logo', 49th Parallel, summer 2006, at www.49thparallel.bham.ac.uk/back/ special/ScottSmith_USPDNewAmStud.pdf.
53. See http://www.opensource.org/. For a more detailed description of the open-source definition, see http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd.
54. Benjamin Mako Hill, 'Reflections on Free Software Past and Future', First Monday, Special Issue #2: Open Source (October 2005), online at http://firstmonday.org/issues/special10_10/hill/index.html. Also see the section on Enabling Conditions: Open Source and Internet, in Jae Yun Moon and Lee Sproull, 'Essence of Distributed Work: The Case of the Linux Kernel' First Monday, vol. 5, no. 11, November 2000, at http://firstmonday.org/issues/ issue5_11/moon/index.html.
55. First Monday, special issue #2, 2005, online at http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/special10_10/.
56. Moon and Sproull, 'Essence of Distributed Work'.
57. Dafermos, 'Management and Virtual Decentralized Networks'.
58. For a more detailed description, see 'What is Linux?', at http://www.linux.org/info/index.html.
59. Getting Started with Linux section, 'Glossary', available online at http://www.linux.org/lessons/beginner/11/glossary.html#kernel.
60. Ilkka Tuomi, 'Evolution of the Linux Credits File: Methodological Challenges and Reference Data for Open Source Research', First Monday, vol. 9, no. 6, June 2004, available online at http://firstmonday.org/issues/ issue9_6/tuomi/index.html.
61. Moon and Sproull, 'Essence of Distributed Work'.
62. Stefan Koch and Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona, 'Open Source Software Engineering: The State of Research', First Monday, special issue #2 entitled Open Source, October 2005), available online at http://firstmonday.org/ issues/special10_10/koch/index.htm.
63. Ubuntu and its related release Edubuntu, or 'Linux for young human beings'. Ubuntu-Hunhu, from which the name derives, 'is a southern Africa philosophy which encompasses the values of humanity, community, dignity and respect'. Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have both referred to this emphasis on humanity and community within Ubuntu, which has been an influence on the South African constitution. Using the name Ubuntu reflects the central importance of community for the development of Linux. See the Ubuntu website, http://www.ubuntu.com/, and Edubuntu website, http://www.edubuntu.org/, as well as Caroline Brooks, 'Ubuntu-Hunhu', in Monthly Counterpoint 8 (London: Counterpoint, August 2007).
64. Rishabh Aiyer Ghosh, 'FM Interview with Linus Torvalds: What Motivates Free Software Developers?', originally published in First Monday, vol. 3, no. 3, March 1998, but also in First Monday, special issue #2 entitled Open Source, October 2005, available online at http://www.firstmonday.org/ issues/issue3_3/torvalds/index.html.
65. Ghosh, 'FM Interview with Linus Torvalds'.
66. 'Edge Perspectives with John Hagel', available online at http://edgeperspectives.typepad.com/edge_ perspectives/2007/03/community_20. html. See also J. Hagel and A.G. Armstrong, Net Gain: Expanding Markets Through Virtual Communities (Boston MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1997);
67. and J. Hagel and M. Singer, Net Worth (Boston MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1999).
68. Nikolai Bezroukov, 'Open Source Software Development as a Special Type of Academic Research: A Critique of Vulgar Raymondism', First Monday, vol. 4, no. 10, October 1999, available online at http://firstmonday.org/issues/ issue4_10/bezroukov/index.html. Also see Yochai Benkler "Open Source Economics" TED, July 2005 http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/247.
69. Melissen, 'The New Public Diplomacy', p. 10; and Robert Cooper, The Breaking of Nations: Order and Chaos in the Twenty-First Century (London: Atlantic Books, 2003), p. 76.
70. Fulton, 'Geo-Social Mapping of the International Communications Environment or Why Abdul Isn't Listening', pp. 307-315.
71. Karen Hughes, Nominee for US Under-Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, testimony at confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Washington DC, 22 July 2005, available online at http://www.state.gov/r/us/2005/49967.htm.
72. For decentralized networks, see Dafermos, 'Management and Virtual Decentralized Networks. See also John Hagel, 'Keynote', Community 2.0, available online at http://outsideinnovation.blogs.com/pseybold/2007/03/ community_20_co.html.
73. Does this mean that all comments should be incorporated? No! Nor should sleep be lost over what to do about two diametrically opposing comments. Nuances can be added without accepting everyone's position, but constant review may provide a stronger position.
74. In the open-source community, 'this can be tremendously useful for shortening debugging time. Given a bit of encouragement, your users will diagnose problems, suggest fixes, and help improve the code far more quickly than you could unaided'; see Raymond, The Cathedral and the Bazaar.
75. 'Bring Back Wispa', at http://www.bebo.com/welikewispa; see also 'Iggy Pop Stage Invasion at Glastonbury 2007', at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= vcWMuH9wW68; 'Web Campaign Prompts Wispa Return', BBC News, 18 August 2007, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6952362.stm; Harry Wallop, 'Cadbury Plans Wispa Revival', Telegraph, 20 August 2007, available online at http://www.telegraph. co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/18/nwispa118.xml.
76. The title is a corruption of the title of the 1995 album by The Prodigy.
77. Christopher Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searles and David Weinberger, The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual (New York: Perseus, 2001); also see the 95 theses of The Cluetrain Manifesto at http://www.cluetrain.com/ book/95-theses.html.
78. 95 theses, The Cluetrain Manifesto, at http://www.cluetrain.com/ book/95-theses.html.
79. Eric Steven Raymond, at http://www.cluetrain.com/book.html.
80. Eric Steven Raymond, 'The Mail Must Get Through', in The Cathedral and the Bazaar, at http://www.catb.org/̃esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/ cathedral-bazaar/ar01s02.html.
81. See http://geo.international.gc.ca/cip-pic/ediscussion08a/resources-en. aspx.
82. See Jozef Bátora, 'Public Diplomacy in Small and Medium-sized States: Norway and Canada', Clingendael Discussion Papers, 2005. See also Jozef Bátora, 'Multistakeholder Public Diplomacy of Small and Medium-Sized States: Norway and Canada Compared', paper presented to the International Conference on Multistakeholder Diplomacy, Mediterranean Diplomatic Academy, Malta, 11-13 February 2005; and Henrikson, 'Niche Diplomacy in the Public Arena'.
83. This is not a criticism of the Canadian approach to eDiscussion; it is merely to highlight the distinction between the hierarchical cathedral mindset and the open-source approach.
84. See, for example, Fisher, 'Gramsci and the New Intellectuals'.
85. See the New Generation Network, at http://www.new-gen.org/.
86. See New Generation Network's 'Manifesto', at http://www.new-gen. org/manifesto.
87. James Dao and Eric Schmitt, 'A Nation Challenged: Hearts and Minds - Pentagon Readies Efforts to Sway Sentiment Abroad', New York Times, 19 February 2002;
88. Jeff Gerth, 'Military's Information War is Vast and Often Secretive', New York Times, 11 December, 2005;
89. W.S. Lucas, Freedom's War: The American Crusade Against the Soviet Union (New York: New York University Press, 1999);
90. H. Laville, Cold War Women: The International Activities of American Women's Organizations (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002);
91. F. Stonor Saunders, Who Paid the Piper?: The CIA and the Cultural Cold War (London: Granta Books, 1999);
92. G. Scott-Smith, The Politics of Apolitical Culture: The Congress for Cultural Freedom, the CIA, and Post-War American Hegemony (London: Routledge, 2002);
93. and H. Wilford, The CIA, the British Left, and the Cold War: Calling the Tune? (London: Frank Cass, 2003).
94. Also see W.S. Lucas, 'Campaigns of Truth: The Psychological Strategy Board and American Ideology, 1951-1953', International History Review, May 1996, pp. 279-298.
95. Arquilla and Ronfeldt, The Emergence of Noopolitik, p. 37.
96. Melissen, 'The New Public Diplomacy', p. 10.
97. 'Face Book /Book Value', The Economist, 21 July 2007, p. 72.
98. Two different approaches to video on YouTube are direct action and campaigning. For direct action, see 'G8 - Bundespolizei vs. Greenpeace 2' at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZG54Gsf1LQ&mode=related&search; and 'Video of Greenpeace Action' at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= JuPk773Ye0Y&mode=related&search. For campaigns, see 'Shaping Environmental Change in China' at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= AgzKGv9tUFA&mode=user&search; and 'The Sea of Lebanon' at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrrtufPhHzA&mode=user&search.
99. 'Swim for your (Second) Life', at http://hugg.com/story/Global-Warming- Floods-London-In-Second-Life; George Irish, 'Second Life Activism: A Video Report from the Field', Shake the Pillars, 31 May 2007, available online at http://www.shakethepillars.com/?p=62; and 'The Ann Frank Tree: A Community' at http://www.annefranktree.com.
100. See Raymond, The Cathedral and the Bazaar.
101. Survey of three views conducted on 18 October 2007; views of posts by 'chokemout', 'ettf ' and 'chompchomp' totalled 2,023,278.
102. 'Battle at Kruger', posted by Jason275, had been viewed 18,635,961 times and listed as a favourite 75,121,850 times (figures accurate on 26 October 2007); see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM.
103. Charts for 24 hours, 7 days and 30 days are available at http://www.viralvideochart.com/. The current top video is 'UF Police Taser Student During Kerry Forum', at http://www.viralvideochart.com/youtube/ uf_police_taser_student_during_kerry_forum?id=SaiWCS10C5s.
104. Figures are accurate as of 30 September 2007. See the Second Life website at http://secondlife.com/whatis/economy_stats.php.
105. 'Are You an Average YouTube User?', Mashable Labs, at http://mashable.com/?p=1224. Note that because of the methodology of the survey, this number may be biased towards heavy users.
106. 'Dynamite Surfing' has been posted numerous times by numerous members; because of the turnover rate, links may be broken quickly, but it can easily be found through a basic search on YouTube. Through the power of the networks, this video has been viewed millions of times, despite its obscure name.
107. Eric T. Lofgren and Nina H. Fefferman, 'The Untapped Potential of Virtual Game Worlds to Shed Light on Real World Epidemics', The Lancet Infectious Diseases, vol. 7, no. 9, September 2007, pp. 625-629; 'Virtual Game is a "Disease Model"', BBC News Online, available online at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6951918.stm (accessed 23 August 2007); and see http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_ id=5&objectid=10459021 (accessed 23 August 2007).
108. Lofgren and Fefferman, 'The Untapped Potential of Virtual Game Worlds to Shed Light on Real World Epidemics', p. 628.
109. Lofgren and Fefferman, 'The Untapped Potential of Virtual Game Worlds to Shed Light on Real World Epidemics', p. 628.
110. Edward Castronova, 'On the Research Value of Large Games: Natural Experiments in Norrath and Camelot', CESifo Working Paper Series no. 1621, December 2005, available online at http://ssrn.com/abstract=875571.
111. Cari Simmons, 'Sweden Opens Virtual Embassy 3D-Style', sweden.se (Sweden's offcial website), 30 May 2007, at http://www.sweden.se/templates/cs/ Article_16345.aspx; and David Wiles, 'House of Sweden: A New Meeting Place in Washington DC', Sweden.se, 20 October 2006, at http://www.sweden.se/templates/ cs/Article_15544.aspx.
112. Simmons, 'Sweden Opens Virtual Embassy 3D-Style'.
113. Simmons, 'Sweden Opens Virtual Embassy 3D-Style' (emphasis added).
114. 'Reinventing Public Diplomacy through Games Competition', available online at http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/virtualworlds/contest.
115. Also see 'USC's Virtual World: Annenberg Island', at http://lavoice.org/ article1777.html;
116. 'Contest Held for Peaceful Video Games', New York Times, 8 May 2006, online at http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-expo-peace.html;
117. 'Real Diplomacy from the Virtual World', CNet News, 3 May 2006, available online at http://news.com.com/Real+diplomac y+from+the+virtual+world/ 2100-1043_3-6067673.html?tag=nefd.lede;
118. 'Playing Along for Global Understanding', 18 October 2005, at http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/11718.html;
119. 'Video Game World Gives Peace a Chance', Washington Post, 16 October 2005, online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/ 2005/10/15/AR2005101500218_pf.html.
120. I would like to emphasize that this is not a critique of the work at USC. The article highlights different mindsets and the possibility of the open-source approach, while this competition was run under a different mindset for a different purpose. It is highlighted to demonstrate the difference, not to identify a dichotomy of good and bad.
121. My thanks to all who attended the Climate Change Meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 26-27 February 2008, and who stimulated my thinking in this area.
122. Recycled plastic and glass bottles being examples that are used both in sub-Saharan Africa and the US.