This book examines the role of new media and digital technologies in public diplomacy and political communication. Exploring political communication in India, as well as in the US and China, it highlights the fundamental changes that new technology has brought about in public diplomacy. While facilitating direct engagement with constituents, and tapping into territories and audiences which were harder to reach before, the new media's power to influence perceptions has revolutionised public diplomacy and engagement like never before. The book analyses the role of social media in not only defining and shaping political attitudes of citizens but their ability to empower citizens as well. The author, through examples from India, the US and China, also examines the challenges of using digital tools in diplomacy and its effects on democracies across the world. Lucid and engaging, this book will be an essential read for students and scholars of communication studies, political studies, diplomacy and foreign policy, defence and strategic analysis, media and culture studies and international relations.

This book examines the role of new media and digital technologies in public diplomacy and political communication. Exploring political communication in India, as well as in the US and China, it highlights the fundamental changes that new technology has brought about in public diplomacy. While facilitating direct engagement with constituents, and tapping into territories and audiences which were harder to reach before, the new media's power to influence perceptions has revolutionised public diplomacy and engagement like never before. The book analyses the role of social media in not only defining and shaping political attitudes of citizens but their ability to empower citizens as well. The author, through examples from India, the US and China, also examines the challenges of using digital tools in diplomacy and its effects on democracies across the world. Lucid and engaging, this book will be an essential read for students and scholars of communication studies, political studies, diplomacy and foreign policy, defence and strategic analysis, media and culture studies and international relations.

The book makes a major contribution to the academic literature on diplomacy, foreign policy & soft power by studying the Indian and Chinese image-building processes in Southeast Asia - an increasingly significant region for both the Asian players - and the accompanying discourse. The volume focuses on various geo-political and economic compulsions driving India and China's image-building efforts and examines the nuances and characteristics defining their engagement of the region based on primary sources and extensive field study. Leaderships of both countries have been pragmatic in extending the scope of engagement, exploring new ways and means for strengthening the regional relationship and efforts to develop together. Regionalisation, as the book argues, has been deployed by both India and China among their strategies for a positive image make-over. The existing academic literature on both India and China's image-building efforts are relatively scant and are yet to be rigorously researched. The book makes an important contribution to the existing literature through its examination of various facets of India and China's external engagement and diplomacy for building respective images in Southeast Asia.