The Journal of Foreign Policy

The Journal of Foreign Policy

The Role of Images and Narratives in Digital Public Diplomacy

Document Type : Research Paper

Author
Executive Vice Chancellor and Lecturer at the School of International Relations
Abstract
The formation of visual global politics has made more important the “visual diplomacy" and "narrative diplomacy" as two new types of diplomacy in the context of public diplomacy, which increasingly its digital aspects are becoming more prominent. The images and storytelling strategies have a pivotal role in the management of public opinion and emotions in the international arena. Images and narrative storytelling could form framework and context in which we understand, act, and view domestic and foreign political phenomena. The main purpose of this article is to describe the visual and narrative dimensions of digital public diplomacy and it’s important in the visual global politics. Therefore, this research has attempted to borrow from interdisciplinary concepts in order to provide a conceptual framework for understanding the visual global politics. It also answers the questions about the role that images and narratives storytelling play in digital public diplomacy. This article consists of three parts. The first section describes digital public diplomacy and its role in national image building process. The second part is devoted to the study of visual diplomacy and the use of images in diplomatic practice. In the last section, the role of narrative diplomacy is reviewed.
Keywords