Document Type : .
Authors
1 MA in Cultural and Media Studies, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Central Branch
2 Political Science Professor, University of Tehran
3 Associate Professor of Social Communication Sciences, Islamic Azad University,Tehran
Abstract
Modern public diplomacy (MPD) is a form of public diplomacy which plays an important role in the increase of soft or smart power of countries around the world and in the extension of their influence in the global arena, especially for small countries with limited hard power.Modern public diplomacy more than anything is under the influence of new media including the cyberspace. In this paper, the role of cyberspace in promotion of MPD is studied. This is an applied study in terms of achievements and findings, and a descriptive-survey study regarding its objectives. The statistical population consists of all professors in political science, international relations and communications from prestigious universities in Tehran, Iran. By using convenience sampling method, 14 experts are selected for the study.Two questions are designed according to the opinions of study participants: (a) What is the role of social networks in promoting MPD? And (b) what are the benefits of cyber communications in promoting MPD?A 23-item questionnaire in Persian, rated on Likert scale,is used to collect data from experts which was then analyzed based on the Delphi technique and using statistical tests. According to the obtained results, it is concluded that the cyberspace can create a major impact on modern public diplomacyby affectingthe political development of Iran through mechanisms such asopen expression of political views, awareness of the political currents,promotion and introduction of special parties and enrichment of the political and factional rivalry as well as paving the way for diplomacy.
Keywords
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