Hashtag framing and stakeholder targeting: An affordance perspective on China's digital public diplomacy campaign during COVID-19

Social media platforms such as Twitter provide opportunities for governments to connect to foreign publics and influence global public opinion. In the current study, we used social and semantic network analysis to investigate China's digital public diplomacy campaign during COVID-19. Our results show that Chinese state-affiliated media and diplomatic accounts created hashtag frames and targeted stakeholders to challenge the United States or to cooperate with other countries and international organizations, especially the World Health Organization. Telling China's stories was the central theme of the digital campaign. From the perspective of social media platform affordance, we addressed the lack of attention paid to hashtag framing and stakeholder targeting in the public diplomacy literature. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Information Technology & Politics is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Political economy of vaccine diplomacy: explaining varying strategies of China, India, and Russia's COVID-19 vaccine diplomacy

The COVID-19 pandemic and global responses to this crisis reveal the changing landscape of global health governance. As countries around the world struggle to secure COVID-19 vaccines for their citizens, some non-Western powers have actively distributed vaccines internationally – an act broadly recognized as vaccine diplomacy. While existing literature suggests that geopolitical concerns affect the selection of recipient countries, it has yet to explain other aspects of vaccine diplomacy. Why are some countries focused on vaccine sales while others are more open to donation? Why do some prefer bilateral to multilateral channels in distributing vaccines? Through comparative analysis of China, India, and Russia, this article shows that political economic factors, in addition to geopolitics, shape the ways non-Western powers conduct vaccine diplomacy. We argue that these countries adjust their strategies in line with their relative advantages in development, manufacturing, and delivery of vaccines. Each country has unique strengths and weakness, which gives rise to the varied patterns in vaccine diplomacy. Our findings suggest that their strategies of vaccine diplomacy are enabled as well as constrained by their economic realities, and the rise of these countries in this field does not necessarily mean an outright challenge to the existing international system. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Review of International Political Economy is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

A Study on the Key Elements of Bangladesh's Vaccine Diplomacy During COVID-19

In May 2022, Bangladesh was ranked fifth in a Global Index comprising of 121 countries' performance of managing the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic. The Index provided Bangladesh with global recognition of its endeavours that aimed at lowering the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases since the mid-2020, in which the country's vaccine diplomacy played a greater role. In view of that the present study identified the key elements of Bangladesh's vaccine diplomacy in the context of the pandemic. The study employed the qualitative approach of the social science research, while the data were generated from both primary and secondary sources. The study found that Bangladesh pursued a proactive vaccine diplomacy with a combination of five key elements: identifying the critical areas of intervention, figuring out the volume of internal demand, counting on multiple sources of vaccines, generating diverse source of external funding and making the most use of ‘soft power' strategy. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Asian & African Studies (Sage Publications, Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Understanding Post-COVID-19 Social and Cultural Realities: Global Context

This book concentrates on the changing patterns of work and global social order as a result of COVID-19. It scrutinizes these changes in order to point out the possible reasons for these changes following COVID-19. It sheds light on the differences between the condition of underdeveloped and developed countries, focusing on how they struggle to find ways of coping. The pandemic has changed the global social order. It has an impact on every aspect of life around the globe, from individual relationships to institutional operations and international collaborations. Societies are endeavoring to protect themselves despite severe restrictions, while the pandemic continues to upset family relations and overturn governance. COVID-19 has made it clearer than ever before that where many strains on the social sector occur, the current global system, with its interconnectedness and vulnerabilities, is under threat. Due to the changing patterns of economic and societal elements caused by COVID-19, further research is urgently needed to analyze these changing trends. The book portrays what work and the global social order will look like in the future. It is essential reading for anyone interested in these changes and the pst-COVID-19 reality. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022, corrected publication 2022.

The challenge of conducting marine scientific research under the COVID-19 pandemic

This opinion paper highlights the unseen impacts that the current COVID-19 outbreak has posted to ocean sciences, particularly in developing countries. Ocean science diplomacy, i.e. the interplay between ocean science and international affairs, present useful tools to leverage from this new normal and address the need to foster balance between regions in terms of scientific capabilities to unveil the ocean as a public good. The UN Decade of Ocean Science offers a timely framework to advance such discussions.

The Changing Dimensions of India's Foreign Relations During COVID-19

This chapter intends to critically analyze India's changing dimensions of foreign policy during COVID-19. India's strategy to counter China in association with Australia, the USA, Japan, and other democratic countries of the world has been highlighted in this chapter. India's policy of ‘self-reliant' and financial challenges has been sequentially discussed in this chapter. The chapter will further delineate the relations between the domestic factors and external factors in the formulation of the neworientation-based foreign policy of India.COVID-19, it has been discovered, has taught India a valuable lesson. Due to the pandemic, India's foreign policy focus and equations have been steadily altering. India has attempted to improve its acceptability in the post-COVID world with a variety of generous and humanitarian initiatives, as a step toward realizing its global ambitions. The focus is on realizing the idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022, corrected publication 2022.

COVID-19 and Decline of Multilateralism

Multilateralism and multilateral diplomacy have been the most desired vision for a peaceful and stable global system with capacity to deal with challenges and streamline the deviations as and when it comes on the way. As the system of multilateralism is devised and sustained by the by the nation's desire to ensure and secure their national interests, its capacity to measure up to its aims is directly proportional to the level the great power relations and cooperation. The changes in the structure of international system must be reflected by the commensurate reforms in the multilateral institutions like United Nations Organizations. There is a growing concern about unilateral actions and withdrawal by powers in the recent years and the changing power landscape of the globe is not appropriately reflected in the existing multilateral institutions and mechanism. Such withdrawal syndrome led to the ultimate breakdown of the post-WWI system. Our current scenario is far from such alarming stage as multilateralism is still in consonance with most of the nations of the globe. The COVID-19 with its global spread has impacted heavily on the multilateral institutions as never before. But is its very transnational implications impacting on the global supply chain and economic process have been pushing the nations for multilateral and global cooperation to deal with such impending pandemic. The mini-lateralism and regional multilateralism has shown greater pandemic outreach diplomacy and cooperation but their effective functioning needs an inclusive global multilateral structure. India with its global aspiration must work as an emerging world leader to shape a robust multilateral world with its pandemic measures, outreach and diplomacy. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022, corrected publication 2022.

Reflexiones necesarias sobre seguridad alimentaria en Cuba

Cuba exhibe indicadores promedio de consumo aparente diario de alimentos que rebasan las recomendaciones nutricionales diarias. Sin embargo, este consumo depende en gran medida de importaciones de alimentos, ya que los esfuerzos de política por reactivar el sector agropecuario aún no se revierten en incrementos de la producción doméstica. Esta situación se ha acrecentado en años recientes, marcados por la pandemia de la Covid-19 y el recrudecimiento del bloqueo estadounidense. Como resultado, se evidencia una contracción de la disponibilidad de alimentos como resultado de las caídas en la producción nacional y en las importaciones. Ello, junto a otros factores, dificultan el acceso a los alimentos. Por demás, el gasto en alimentación sigue siendo el más importante dentro del gasto familiar, limitando las posibilidades de otros consumos igualmente relevantes. Este artículo examina en mayor profundidad la problemática que significa para las familias cubanas alcanzar la seguridad alimentaria en el contexto actual. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Cuban Studies is the property of Pluto Journals and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

A Soft Power Challenge, or an Opportunity? A Big Data Analysis on Chinese Soft Power during COVID-19 Pandemic

The Chinese government's rigorous efforts to enhance its soft power have confronted a major challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to look at how the Chinese soft power changed throughout the pandemic using English news articles that covered China. The research took a data science approach to investigate the contents of articles using machine-learning-based sentiment analysis and Dirichlet-Multinomial Regression (DMR) analysis. The results show a gradual downturn in overall sentiment and that the topics related to political issues made the most significant impact. Nevertheless, the major increase in referencing Chinese social media implied that the sources of Chinese soft power have been diversified throughout the pandemic. In addition, this research has aimed to engage in major debates around soft power theory. Providing a multi-disciplinary approach for analyzing soft power, this research has tackled the difficulties in the quantitative conceptualization of soft power.

Different platforms, different plots? The Kremlin-controlled search engine Yandex as a resource for Russia's informational influence in Belarus during the COVID-19 pandemic

Extant research demonstrated that the algorithms of the Kremlin-controlled search engine Yandex, compared to those of its US-based counterpart Google, frequently produce results that are biased toward the interests of Russia's ruling elites. Prior research, however, audited Yandex's algorithms largely within Russia. In contrast, this study is the first to assess the role of Yandex's web search algorithms as a resource for Russia's informational influence abroad. To do so, we conduct a comparative algorithm audit of Google and Yandex in Belarus, examining the visibility and narratives of COVID-19-related conspiracy theories in their search results. By manually analysing the content of 1320 search results collected in mid-April to mid-May 2020, we find that, compared with Google, (1) Yandex retrieves significantly more conspiratorial content (2) that close to exclusively suspects US plotters to be behind the pandemic, even though the virus spread from the Chinese city of Wuhan across the globe.

Vaccination Nation: Vaccine Diplomacy and the U.S. Vaccine Rollout

The COVID-19 vaccine rollout has as of yet received little attention from geographers. This chapter seeks to look at the spatial aspects of the vaccine distribution, starting with a review of previous vaccination campaigns, then looking at the various types of COVID-19 vaccine. Paying attention to issues of disparities in access, this chapter investigates the U.S. rollout as well as that of other countries. A look is also taken into the emerging vaccine diplomacy, as well as the international program COVAX designed to help distribute the vaccine. This chapter finds that the U.S. vaccine rollout is flawed with people of color more likely to experience difficultly in receiving the vaccine. It is also a spatially uneven rollout, with states distributing vaccine at varying rates across the country. The U.S. response on the international stage also faces some difficulty, with states such as China and Russia pulling ahead in the field of vaccine diplomacy at the expense of American influence abroad. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

COVID-19 Geopolitics in Southeast Asia: Regional and National Health (in)Securities in Times of Pandemic

COVID-19 is a nonhuman threat that has thrust disease to the center of discourses about geopolitics, security, and national sovereignty. This chapter examines the multilateral, regional, and national dimensions of COVID-19 as the pandemic has played out in Southeast Asia. National vignettes are utilized to reveal different geopolitical dimensions of COVID-19 responses and influences. COVID-19 has had enormous implications for migrant workers worldwide, which may reinforce preexisting prejudices and practices of exclusion. In Singapore's case, migrant infection clusters have generated a growing state and public recognition of the nation's dependence on foreign workers as part of its political economic drive for growth and survival. The use of "war metaphors” as national propaganda against the disease and as a means for state-nation-building are explored in the case of Vietnam. Even a force as deadly as a global pandemic cannot prevent humanmade geopolitical rifts from becoming deeper. The chapter explores how the military in Myanmar have exploited the timing of pandemic and targeted public health workers in order to strengthen a hold over the country following a military coup. Finally, the chapter considers "ways forward, " and suggests that we draw inspiration from frontline workers, everyday struggles, and the realm of public health in order to seek sustainable meanings of justice and security. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Health Diplomacy in the CARICOM Region

In today's globalized world, with high connectivity and interdependence on other nations, the germs can cross borders within minutes making the Caribbean region more vulnerable. The paramount role of health diplomacy is increasing day by day, especially with the recent COVID-19 pandemic. In 2007, the Caribbean region formulated the "Port of Spain Summit Declaration”, a unique, comprehensive policy addressing chronic non-communicable diseases with a high-level commitment from the head of the states. Health diplomacy is not something new to the region as it has developed many regional initiatives for collective action against HIV/AIDS, other infectious diseases in the past decades but never had a dedicated centre to further the concept or conduct more research. This chapter examines various challenges in the region and emphasizes the region's role in addressing its needs on global platforms to negotiate for more assistance and robust policies to safeguard peace, health, and development. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Domestic sources of China's wolf-warrior diplomacy: individual incentive, institutional changes and diversionary strategies

Many China observers have commented that Beijing is harsh and assertive on diplomatic occasions. By publicizing the nationalistic rhetoric and moves in internal propaganda, the PRC aims to please domestic audiences. This article examines China's practices of 'wolf-warrior diplomacy', explicates the rationale behind it, and provides three plausible explanations. Firstly, the individualist explanation highlights the personal motives of 'wolf-warrior' diplomats. However, wolf-warrior diplomacy is not the common practice of Chinese diplomats, as most Chinese diplomats, unlike these wolf-warriors, remain conservative, taking an orthodox approach to their duties. Secondly, the institutional explanation presents a potential conflict between propaganda and diplomacy agencies in conducting waixuan (external propaganda, overseas-targeted propaganda: (sic)(sic)). I elaborate on how the changing working doctrines of waixuan have encouraged wolf-warrior diplomacy. Finally, the strategic explanation highlights how Beijing diverts the popular attention away from its domestic issues and towards 'external threats' and rallies popular support at home by 'talking tough' and 'blaming others'. The diversionary use of assertive diplomacy also allows Beijing to avoid publicizing its policy failures, buy more time and room for manoeuvre, and plan tactical reforms while preserving its fundamental political system. I also argue that the wolf-warrior diplomacy is more of ad hoc response to perceived geopolitical risk in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic than a well-crafted strategy.

Signal Cost in Digital Diplomacy: A Study of American and Chinese Public Outreach

Summary This study looks at how digital technologies disrupted signalling and signal cost calculations in public diplomacy within the context of Covid-19. The pandemic presented a noteworthy opportunity to observe how countries attempt to navigate a relatively unknown communication landscape as a result of external shock and a crisis for states' images and reputations. We position the communicative outcomes of the pandemic as an exploratory case to discuss how countries use social media to engage with target audiences. We study American and Chinese messaging on Twitter about Covid-19 employing an analytical model of signal cost developed from signalling theory. Using a data set of 1,512 tweets coming from nine different American and Chinese accounts, we investigated their signal cost through content and network analyses. Our findings describe and operationalise signal cost in digital public diplomacy through signaller, signal content and outreach. Keywords © 2023 Authors. All rights reserved.

Nuances of Public Diplomacy: China in Chilean Op-Eds (2018-2021)

This paper explores editorials and opinion columns published in four Chilean mainstream newspapers and analyzes how China is represented within the context of Chinese economic advances in the region and the contextual narratives surrounding bilateral relations. Through a content analysis of editorials and opinion pieces of elite media between 2018 and 2021, this study allows an understanding of how China and its growing influence are perceived locally. Ultimately, despite an overall alignment with China's public diplomacy centered around an economiccommercial dimension, there are still nuances in how China is represented in Chilean op-eds.

Public diplomacy in an age of perpetual crisis: assessing the EU's strategic narratives through six crises

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the EU's public diplomacy – towards both domestic and external audiences – during times of crisis. The EU's public diplomacy is examined across six major crises: the Eurozone crisis (2008), the Ukrainian crisis (2014), the migrant crisis (2015), the Brexit referendum (2016), the new transatlantic relationship (2017) and the COVID-19 pandemic (2019). The goal of examining these crises in conjunction is to derive policy-relevant insights.Design/methodology/approachThis article adopts a problem-driven approach – the problem being how successful is the EU at public diplomacy during times of crisis – that draws theoretical and empirical insights from Communication Studies, International Relations and EU studies via a "strategic narratives” framework. It situates the EU as a unique public diplomacy actor, one which is becoming more prominent due to the mediatisation of diplomacy, especially driven by the advent of cyberspace.FindingsThe article finds that the EU has been experiencing a cycle of crises that have affected the political, economic, symbolic and social foundations of the common project. The EU has had some notable success – such as restoring confidence at the height of the Eurozone crisis – and some notable challenges – such as effectively combatting disinformation. Regardless, the EU has the potential to better manage these and future crises by engaging in an effective public diplomacy strategy that tells a shared European story that informs and inspires people, both domestically and externally.Originality/valueThe article offers an original examination of the EU's public diplomacy response to six different crises. It looks at different types of crises and utilises concepts from different social science perspectives. It offers novel strategic and policy recommendations.

An intermestic approach to China's public diplomacy: a case study of Beijing's COVID-19 communication in the early stages

PurposeThe aim of this study was to examine the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak and the international communication management of Chinese diplomats as a case for extending the definition of intermestic public diplomacy. The goal was to reveal how Beijing subtly used both domestic and foreign social media to organize a network for communication about COVID-19 and purposefully soften the highly centralized and hierarchical political propaganda of the Communist Party of China (CPC).Design/methodology/approachBased on the literature on digital public diplomacy, the authors applied the existing concept of intermestic to Chinese politics in order to demonstrate the digitalization of public diplomacy, along with its forms and strategies under an authoritarian regime. A hybrid methodology combining quantitative network analysis and qualitative discourse analysis permits examination of China's intermestic online communication network dynamics, shedding light on how such an intermestic practice promoted Chinese values and power to international publics in the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis.FindingsThe authors' findings extend the implications of intermestic public diplomacy from a democratic context to an authoritarian one. By analyzing the content of public diplomacy and para-diplomatic social media accounts in China and abroad at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, the authors outlined China's early crisis management, explaining its intermestic public diplomacy transmission modes and strategies. Moreover, the authors identified changes in the narrative strategies of Chinese diplomats and journalists during this process.Social implicationsThe findings of this study underline that Beijing established a narrative-making virtual communication structure for disseminating favorable Chinese strategic narratives and voices through differentiated communication on domestic and foreign social media platforms. Such intermestic communication strategies were particularly evident and even further weaponized by Beijing in its large-scale Wolf Warrior diplomacy in the spring of 2020. Thus, the study's findings help readers understand how China digitalized its public diplomacy, its digital communication patterns and strategies.Originality/valueOn the one hand, geopolitical uncertainty and the popularity of social media have contributed to the evolution of the intermestic model of public diplomacy. This model allows actors to coordinate homogenous and differentiated communication practices to deploy their influence. On the other hand, the authors did not examine how intermestic audiences perceive and receive public diplomacy practices. In future studies, scholars should measure the agenda-setting capacity of diplomatic actors by examining the effects of such intermestic communication efforts.