OBSERVARE

Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Thematic dossier

International Relations and Social Networks

July 2021

EDITORIAL

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND SOCIAL NETWORKS

BRUNO REIS

breis@autonoma.pt

PhD in Social Sciences from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo and PhD in

Communication Sciences from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid. Associate Professor at

the Department of Communication Sciences at the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa (Portugal),

where he coordinates the PhD in Media e Sociedade no Contexto da Comunidade dos Países de

Língua Portuguesa and co-ordinates the Research Centre on Núcleo de Investigação em Práticas

e Competências Mediáticas (NIP-C@M). He is a guest lecturer in the master’s in Comunicación y

Cultura Digital (UAQ/Mexico) and in the Department of Sociology of the Universidade da Beira

Interior (UBI). He is an integrated researcher in OBSERVARE (UAL), NEAMP (PUC-SP/Brazil) and

Citizenship, Culture & Communication group (Vilnius Tech/Lithuania).

JAVIER SIERRA SANCHEZ

sierrasanchez@gmail.com

Doctorate in Information Sciences from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) and a

degree in Audiovisual Communication and Journalism from the same university. Master's in

Marketing and Corporate Communication from the Universidad San Jorge. Specialist in

International RRPP from Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain). Specialist in State and

International Protocol and Ceremonial from the Universidad de Oviedo and the Escuela

Diplomática de Madrid. He is currently Associate Professor at the Universidad Complutense de

Madrid.

This thematic dossier systematizes the main lines of reflection presented in the

International Relations panel of the II International Congress on Communication and

Social Media in the Information Society, which took place at Universidade Autónoma de

Lisboa between 31 March and 1 April 2021.

The common denominator that guided the debate highlighted the role of information and

communication technologies as a vehicle for action on a large scale. The construction of

this globalizing web cemented strong interdependence of the economic, political and

communicative powers among countries and blocs.

Zygmunt Bauman

, with the acumen that characterizes him, considers this process to be

one of the irreversible features of our time, when we all depend on everyone. Decisions

Editorial translated by Carolina Peralta.

See the interview given by the sociologist to the project fronteiras do pensamento;

https://www.fronteiras.com/artigos/zygmunt-bauman-especial

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Thematic dossier – International Relations and Social Networks (July 2021), pp. 1-3

Editorial

Bruno Carriço Reis; Javier Sierra Sanchez

and events that take place in the “world culture”

can produce multiple direct, indirect,

immediate, distant effects (even if certain societies may appear to be impervious to a set

of phenomena).

This situation underlies an intensive digitalization of our lives, exposed to a continuous

flow of information and frequent sharing. The rapid circulation of networked information

shapes incessant opinions, in a public debate increasingly marked by issues of a

globalizing nature. Aware of this situation, public agents (governments, political agents,

interest groups and corporations) give primacy to the communicative phenomenon as a

strategic “arsenal” for negotiation and domination.

We glimpse an relinquishment of the perception of communication as a soft power

instrument, having increasingly become a hard power instrument. The Cambridge

Analytica

phenomenon, of common knowledge and which would be difficult to

summarize here, would be the illustrative paradigm of the use of communication as a

definition of power relations in the international scene. This is the starting point for this

thematic issue. The articles that comprise this dossier address this issue in several

significant aspects.

A first group discusses the importance of digital tools at the service of what is advocated

as “cyber-diplomacy”. A first consideration addresses the scenario of technological

migration to the 5G reality, which opens up fierce disputes between States, taking into

account the security and defence issues that it raises (Text 1; Muñoz-Satre, Rodrigo-

Martín and Rodrigo-Martín). A second text assesses Qatar's communication strategy to

rehabilitate its international credibility. The procedures operated from a crisis

management situation are discussed, after this country of the Arabian Peninsula was

accused by its neighbours of supporting terrorist causes, becoming the target of

international sanctions (text 9; González).

A second set discusses misinformation issues. Text 3 (Guzmán and Rodríguez-Cánovas)

comprehensively analyses the strategies used by States to spread false information with

the clear intention of gaining political dividends. This issue materializes in a more

concrete way in the reflection that proposes a look at the existing tension between the

European Union and the misinformation attacks conducted by the Chinese and Russian

agendas (text 6; Benedicto).

Text 10 by Magallón-Rosa and Sánchez-Duarte relates misinformation issues in the

context of the pandemic, comparing southern European countries. It bridges the gap

between the topic of misinformation and the current pandemic context we are

experiencing. This is the third guiding axis of this issue of Janus.net, e-journal of

international relations, which includes two more texts to complement the reflection on

the epidemic. An article addresses the communication mechanisms used by European

and Portuguese entities that oversee the management of vaccines, to communicate the

vaccination plan (text 11; Santos et al). A second article looks at the phenomenon of

Lipovetsky, G., & Serroy, J. (2010). A Cultura-Mundo. Resposta a uma sociedade desorientada. Lisbon:

Edições 70.

Wendzel, R. (1985). Relaçes Internacionais: o enfoque do formulador de polticas. Braslia: Universidade

de Braslia.

https://www.netflix.com/pt/title/80117542

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Thematic dossier – International Relations and Social Networks (July 2021), pp. 1-3

Editorial

Bruno Carriço Reis; Javier Sierra Sanchez

tourism, marked by a strong scenario of fluctuating information and global uncertainty

(text 13; Caldevilla-Domínguez et al).

A fourth group of articles discusses the role of social media as a political communication

instrument; by the Spanish and British royal houses (text 2; Rodríguez, Vázquez

Jorquera), by the Trump administration (text 8; Costa), and as a communication

instrument of the Portuguese and Spanish Catholic Church in the relationship as power

interlocutors (text 12; Sabaté and Chiva).

A fifth group pf papers closes this debate, proposing three perspectives on the use of

digital resources as enhancers of human rights awareness. The first scrutinizes public

discourses about disability in the Spanish context, seen through the viewpoint of

international guidelines that propose more inclusive societies (text 7; López-Cepeda,

Maña-Viniegra and Vivar-Zurita). A second (text 5; Bernabé) studies the communicative

strategies adopted by an organization such as Amnesty International, in its recurrent

stance on issues of a humanitarian nature. The third perspective examines how

commercial corporations incorporate civil rights issues into their advertising approaches.

In text 4, Díaz-Bajo and Martínez-Borda analyse an advertising campaign for a world-

brand, which proposes a modelling strategy for a commercial identity based on gender

and racial equality issues.

These are the five guiding axes of this thematic dossier, which contain texts that reveal

a better understanding of a hyper-communicated world

, marked by corporate

possibilities that simultaneously dispute each other in relations of permanent competition

and tension.

Happy readings!

How to cite this editorial

Reis, Bruno Carriço; Sanchez, Javier Sierra. Editorial: International relations and social media.

Janus.net, e-journal of international relations. Thematic dossier International relations and

social media, July 2021. Consulted [online] in date of last visit,

https://doi.org/10.26619/1647-7251.DT21.ED

Constantinou, C., Richmond, O., & Watson, A. (2008). International Relations and the challenges of global

communication. Review of International Studies, 34, 5-19.