IWP student Hampton Stephens has an op-ed piece in the March 14, 2005 Boston Globe, urging that US public diplomacy quickly embrace Web logs or blogs as tools of public diplomacy.
“The particular characteristics of the Internet and Web logs can make them fertile ground for alternative political cultures to take root, especially in countries where the state attempts to control access to information,” Stephens writes. Democratic activists around the world, as in the “Blog Iran” graphic above, have created an entire movement.
“Although the international blogging phenomenon is in its infancy, Internet trends spread fast, so US foreign policy makers would do well to take notice soon,” he argues. “US policy makers should recognize blogging as a perfect tool to promote the proliferation of independent democratic voices.” The op-ed piece is titled, “Uncle Sam’s blog.”