Diplomacy in the Internet Age—Challenges and Opportunities for the UAE

Abstract

In the United Arab Emirates, internet-based tools have increasingly shaped recent political, social, economic, and public interactions. The number of users of social media platforms alone reflect a highly engaged online community in the country. The multi-functionality of internet-enabled platforms hosted on the Web 2.0, which include blogs, microblogging sites (Twitter), social networking sites (Facebook), video hosting sites (YouTube), and visual media sharing websites (Flickr, Snapchat, Instagram)—offer a range of options to the government and state agencies to promote certain narratives, gauge public opinion, receive real-time feedback, promote citizen engagement, and shape the interpretation of events, policies, and goals. At the same time, high levels of internet penetration expose Emiratis to local, regional, and international news and communication. With this background, the proposed paper examines how the internet has changed communication and, thereby, the contours of diplomacy, including the challenges and opportunities that countries like the UAE face in the internet age of information abundance and real-time sharing. Lastly, the paper briefly touches upon the regional security and geopolitical challenges faced by the UAE, namely, the threat perceived from Iran and Qatar, and the consequent bolstering of new partnerships.