International Relations Commons^™

The New Public Diplomacy: The Winning Move In Revolutions, Shannon Zimmerman

Exchange: The Journal of Public Diplomacy

The countries of the Arab Spring have taken differing approaches and have experienced conflicting outcomes. Egyptian and Tunisian protestors utilized public diplomacy as a political weapon while other states failed to realize its potential. In particular, social media were used to communicate with local actors, the military, and the international community, allowing protesters to disseminate their messages of non-violence. As a result, the revolutionary movement was not alienating to the citizenry or to the security forces. This paper will explore the use of public diplomacy by nonviolent protesters to 'win' the security forces and prevent their uprising from descending into …