When Diplomacy Goes Wrong

Diplomacy efforts can always be tricky, consisting as they do of balancing the considerations of different cultures whilst getting your point across, and in volatile situations can be even more so. The recent British effort in Libya can definitely be marked as a colossal failure, but aside from making the Foreign Secretary look stupid there could be major consequences. This has massive implications for any future diplomatic efforts in this region.  

 

   

It has been recognised that the use of both soft and hard power within diplomacy helps to ensure a nation’s position on the international stage. This catastrophic British mission, which saw eight SAS soldiers detained by rebel Libyan fighters, has seriously harmed the British government’s ability to use soft and hard power on the international stage. It has made British elite forces look incompetent which may make the threat of hard power from Britain seem insignificant. It could also weaken the ability to use soft power as they were caught whilst acting covertly which may be perceived by other nations as a reason to be suspicious of British diplomacy.

This embarrassing episode could have greater impact on British diplomacy, far beyond making William Hague look just a little silly.  

Sources from:
Image credited from http://www.politics.co.uk/news/economy-and-finance/william-hague-labels-labour-weak-and-washed-out--$1242623.htm
Video From ITV World Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSUPAD9JNZA

Other Sources:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/british-special-forces-team-released-after-botched-mission-2234233.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12658054

Murdoch’s influence exposed!

The announcement that  Cultural Secretary Jermeny Hunt’s has given the go ahead for News Corporation’s to takeover of the remaining share BskyB could have implication for communication landscape in Britain. If the takeover goes ahead, which is most likely, News Corp will own the largest share of British media giving it increasing power over British Public opinion.  It also brings up questions over how much influence the Murdoch’s empire has over the British Government considering both Ofcom and Office of Fair Trading express concerns.

Public opinion is influenced by the media as it is a key channel of information and pluralism within the media means that people has access to a variety of opinion to form their belief. This means that if News Corp becomes the largest media owner in the UK it could have massive influence of public opinion and sharp it to its interest. Though News Corp agreed to cease control of Sky News it will still fund it, meaning that Sky News will still be very depends on New Corp!  

This deal is not only worrying for News Corp’s future influence on public opinion and therefore British governmental policies, but also brings up question about its current influence on British government.   The government agree to this deal which has huge financial possibility to News Corp regardless of the concerns of the independent bodies. This may suggest that the government is trying reward News Corp for their support during the election.

This announcement brings up many question of the influence of News Corp on the British government and policy. However, the fact that News Corps has have to make concession means that it must not be the all-powerful that many people claim