THE DEVELOPMENTS OF DIPLOMACY IN THE INFORMATION AGE

The emergence of the information age, as the result of the miraculous advances in information and communication technology, has set off the ground for changes in all walks of human life. Diplomacy, a concept, as old as the history itself, and in close relations with the two principal elements, namely information and communication, has been influenced by the information age characteristics, much more than any other social domains. Connectivity amongst the most distant nations of the world, through electronic networks; facilitating the easy participation of new players in the world's affaires; interventions by communities or non-governmental organizations and institutions, regional as well as international, in their affairs, both internal and external; introduction of new terms and subjects such as "the global village"; "the global community citizenship rights"; "free and unbiased circulation of information"; "governance of the virtual and cyberspace"; "the prevalence of the e-trade" and billions of dollars of transactions, taking effect in minutes, without even the knowledge of the governments and the related organizations"; manifest the very trend indicating that the content, as well as the behavior of diplomacy is changing and, in cases, is in need of reinvention. It will not be exaggeration to suggest that diplomacy is being revolutionized; but unlike the other revolutions, quietly and in steps.