German Digital Diplomacy

Germany has a long-established tradition of public diplomacy and is usually ranked among the top soft power nations in indexes such as the Global Soft Power Index. Today, the German Federal Foreign Office defines public diplomacy as one of the three pillars of German foreign policy. Nevertheless, research about German public diplomacy has been neglected in the international relations literature. In addition, since all aspects of life, including diplomacy, transformed in the Information Age, new tools of public diplomacy, such as digital diplomacy, emerged. This chapter aims to contribute to the literature about German digital diplomacy by examining recent approaches and practices of the German Federal Foreign Office. In this way, it is sought to provide answers about the German approach to digital diplomacy. The findings of this chapter suggest that digital diplomacy is regarded as an essential component of German public diplomacy in the twenty-first century.