http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/index/ en U.S. Department of State 2012-05-21T19:01:39+00:00 State Department on Google+. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has made 21st Century Statecraft -- the leveraging of technology and innovation in support of our diplomatic goals -- a key part of our foreign policy agenda. Certainly, a key way in which we are executing on Secretary Clinton's leadership of 21st Century Statecraft is through the use of social media in today's interconnected world. Social media offers a powerful way for the State Department to better inform, understand, and engage with the American people and publics around the world on our foreign policy and development goals.

That's why you can find the State Department on Facebook, Flickr, Tumblr, Twitter, YouTube, and now Google+. On our Google+ page, you'll find videos and photographs of the Secretary of State representing the United States abroad and meeting with foreign leaders here in Washington. You'll also find some of our fact sheets and all the latest news from our DipNote blog. And, of course, you'll have the opportunity to participate through State Department Hangouts.

In the meantime, we hope you add the State Department to your circles, join the discussion, and share the Department's content you find most interesting with your networks. We look forward to hearing from you.]]> http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/state_google_plus/ 2012-02-16T19:01:06+00:00
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made 21st Century Statecraft, or using digital networks to advance America's interests around the world, a key part of our foreign policy approach.

So we're continually asking ourselves as we look at our foreign policy priorities -- how can innovation help us do this better, faster, and more economically? This week, asking those questions resulted in the Department's announcement of the launch of our Turkish-language Twitter account @ABDTurk, joining the Department's 10 official feeds in Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Urdu.

Our Ambassador to Turkey Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr. explained the rationale -- the U.S. relationship with Turkey is a high priority and we are always seeking to expand the ways in which we can inform and engage with the people of Turkey. Social media offered us a way to do that in real time with much broader reach than we could ever hope for with traditional shoe leather public diplomacy.

Social media also offers a powerful way for the State Department to listen to foreign publics and better understand their needs and aspirations. That's why we're reaching out directly to citizens across the world as Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland takes questions from the public selected from those 10 official Twitter accounts using the hashtag #AskState and holding a Twitter briefing each Friday during the month of January for the Department's 21st Century Statecraft month -- an opportunity to showcase the ways in which our diplomats in Washington and our embassies overseas use social and digital media every day to speak directly with people about U.S. policy.

The Twitter briefing enables us to shorten the distance between people around the world and right here in the United States and get a response directly from the spokesperson's podium on the foreign policy issues about which they care the most.

We do face a continually evolving set of choices as we forge new ground. Yet we are leveraging these online tools, because we know that Internet will be what we and others make of it. Secretary Clinton has delivered three major addresses on Internet freedom in three years. Her first major address focusing on the topic, on January 21, 2010, made history by declaring that the universal human rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association apply online as they do offline. She also pronounced that promoting those rights online would be a U.S. foreign policy priority. As the Secretary rightfully acknowledged, there are many other networks in the world, but the Internet is a network that magnifies all others -- and we believe its users should be assured certain basic freedoms.

The U.S. International Strategy for Cyberspace has guided our efforts in this arena, affirming the United States' commitment to work internationally to promote an open, interoperable, secure, and reliable information and communications infrastructure that supports international trade and commerce, strengthens international security, and fosters free expression and innovation.

We are reshaping our diplomatic and development agendas by deploying one of the United States' greatest assets -- innovation. Whether they are advancing Internet freedom or connecting women entrepreneurs in West Africa or responding to the devastating earthquake that struck Japan, our diplomats and development professionals are using digital networks and technologies in service of U.S. foreign policy.

The State Department doesn't have a crystal ball. However, we do know that continuous innovation will keep us at the forefront of digital diplomacy, enabling greater, richer information sharing and engagement here at home and abroad. We also know that the old adage of innovate or die will keep us on our toes.

You can read more about our digital engagements this week, and how you can participate, here.

Editor's Note: This entry appeared first on the Huffington Post.]]> http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/forging_digital_diplomacy/ 2012-01-28T03:34:32+00:00 21st Century Statecraft" -- complementing traditional foreign policy tools with the networks and technologies of our interconnected world.

Underscoring our commitment to these efforts, January is the Department's 21st Century Statecraft month and we'll be taking advantage of the truly participatory nature of social media to bring people virtually into the State Department briefing room to ask their foreign policy questions. State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland will take questions from the public selected from the Department's 10 official Twitter feeds [@StateDept (English), @USAbilAraby (Arabic), @USAdarFarsi (Farsi), @USAenEspanol (Spanish), @USAenFrancais (French), @USAemPortugues (Portuguese), @USApoRusski (Russian), @USA_Zhongwen (Chinese), @USAUrdu (Urdu), @USAHindiMein (Hindi)] and answer them at the podium following the Daily Press Briefing each Friday throughout the month of January. You can ask your question using the hashtag, #AskState.

We are also taking the opportunity this month to highlight a lot of what happens here in Washington and around the world every day. In the past year, for example, our embassies have used technology to help connect women entrepreneurs in West Africa and respond to the devastating earthquake that struck Japan. American ambassadors are using social media to engage young people in Zimbabwe and strengthen our relationship with the people of Thailand.

There is still so much to do. As Secretary Clinton has said, part of 21st Century Statecraft is embracing new tools, such as using cell phones for mobile banking or to monitor elections; the other part is reaching out to the people behind those tools, such as innovators and entrepreneurs, and the people who use them, like you.

So, as we begin this year, we are renewing our commitment to engagement and to informing the American people and those around the world about our foreign policies. Stay tuned to DipNote, @StateDept, and our Facebook page as we highlight opportunities for you to interact with officials from the State Department and U.S. missions abroad throughout the month of January. We look forward to receiving your questions and feedback, and we thank you for helping us commemorate 21st Century Statecraft month.]]> http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/leveraging_21st_century_statecraft/ 2012-01-05T23:51:22+00:00