CITIZEN DIPLOMACY IN THE AGE OF AI: RETHINKING INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS EDUCATION
Abstract
In an era of accelerating digitalization and artificial intelligence, diplomacy is no longer the exclusive domain of professional state actors; it is increasingly shaped by individual representational practices on digital platforms. The mass layoffs at the U.S. State Department in 2025 made visible both the loss of institutional memory and the need for new modes of representation. This study reconceptualizes international relations education in light of this transformation and proposes an AI-supported pedagogical model for citizen diplomacy. Adopting a conceptual research design, it develops a literature-based model by synthesizing scholarship on diplomacy, digital diplomacy, experiential learning, social constructivism, transformative learning, and AI-supported education. The study introduces the Reflective Citizen Diplomacy Model (RCDM), comprising four phases: Encounter, Interaction, Representation, and Reflection. AI is positioned not as a passive information source, but as a dynamic learning environment that supports interaction, scenario generation, feedback, and reflection. The study argues that competencies such as diplomatic language, crisis management, digital media literacy, and strategic empathy can be cultivated more systematically at the undergraduate level.
Keywords
Citizen Diplomacy, AI-Supported Learning, International Relations Education, Digital Diplomacy, Experiential Learning
References
- American Foreign Service Association. (2025). Dis-organized diplomacy: State Department reorg. Erişim adresi: https://afsa.org/dis-organized-diplomacy-state-department-reorg
- Asal, V., & Kratoville, J. (2013). Constructing international relations simulations: Examining the pedagogy of IR simulations through a constructivist learning theory lens. Journal of Political Science Education, 9 (2), 132-143.
- Associated Press. (2025). State Department lays off over 1,300 employees under Trump administration plan. Erişim adresi: https://apnews.com/article/state-department-layoffs
- Baranowski, M. K., & Weir, K. A. (2021). Developing simulations for the politics and international relations classroom. Journal of Political Science Education, 17 (1), 285-298. doi:10.1080/15512169.2019.1623047
- Bennett, W. L., & Segerberg, A. (2013). The logic of connective action: Digital media and the personalization of contentious politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139198752
- Bjola, C., Cassidy, J., & Manor, I. (2019). Public diplomacy in the digital age. The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 14 (1-2), 83-101.
- Bjola, C., & Holmes, M. (Ed.). (2015). Digital diplomacy: Theory and practice. Londra: Routledge.
- Bjola, C., & Manor, I. (2018). Revisiting Putnam's two-level game theory in the digital age: Domestic digital diplomacy and the Iran nuclear deal. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 31 (1), 3-32.
- Castells, M. (2009). Communication power. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Cull, N. J. (2008). Public diplomacy: Taxonomies and histories. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 616 (1), 31-54.